COVID-19 and Sudden Cardiac Death in a Young Man with Myasthenia Gravis

Abstract

Myasthenic patients are expected to develop more severe COVID-19 respiratory symptoms compared to the general population because of both respiratory muscle weakness and the possibility of an immunocompromised state related to immunotherapy. During a pandemic like COVID-19, such situation requires meticulous attention, as the entire population is potentially at risk of exposure. However, there is no data on best management for myasthenic patients with COVID infection.Although pneumonia has been reported as the most common cause of death in COVID-19 patients, sudden cardiac death has also been described in the literature as a possible COVID-19 related mortality cause. Physicians should assess the patient's cardiac functionas precisely as possible, in addition to the respiratory condition, in order to prevent such incidents. Furthermore, as the cardiac system of myasthenic patients might be negatively influenced by their background, their cardiac system may be even more vulnerable during COVID-19, which should be noted bymedical teams. Reporting such cases can be helpful to develop protocols for treating myasthenic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.Here, we present a 37-year-old man with generalized myasthenia gravis who was admitted to our hospital due to dyspnea. He developed severe respiratory distress in few hours and subsequently died of sudden cardiac death.