Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been a growing and justifiable fear of catching the virus from the emergency rooms, thus decreasing the hospital visits. With Virginia State slowly reopening and HCA local hospitals resuming elective procedures, the number of emergency room visits, are recovering and increasing. We report a sad and unfortunate case of an 87-year-old female who was experiencing pressure-like chest pain but presented to the emergency room five days later out of fear of catching COVID-19 from the hospital. On presentation to the ED, she was found to have an non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, which required urgent stenting of the left anterior descending artery. Unfortunately, several hours later, she developed fatal cardiogenic shock due to ventricular septal rupture. We are reporting this case to highlight one of the many potential bad outcomes as a result of a delay in seeking necessary medical attention due to the fear of contracting the virus.
Pituitary macroadenoma usually presents with visual field defects. Oculomotor nerve palsy is a rare presentation, and usually a sign of para-sellar growth and cavernous sinus extension. The oculomotor nerve is more susceptible to laterally transmitted pressure by pituitary mass expansion because of its anatomical location. A slow onset oculomotor nerve palsy results from either gradual compression of the nerve in the sinus wall or direct infiltration of the nerve by the pituitary tumor. We are reporting a unique case of a 68-year-old African American patient who presented to an ophthalmology clinic with left eye complete ptosis, blurry vision, and a progressive headache for a few weeks. He was found to have a nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) that required urgent transnasal transsphenoidal tumor resection. The patient's ocular movements significantly improved a few days postoperatively, and repeated computed tomography (CT) of the head showed complete resection of the pituitary adenoma. The postoperative morning cortisol level was significantly low, confirming the diagnosis of secondary adrenal insufficiency. The patient was treated with corticosteroid replacement therapy.
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