Background
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) most commonly causes a mild respiratory illness; however, there are wide ranges of presenting symptoms and disease severity. It has a mortality rate around 7%.
Case presentation
We present a case of a 9-year-old female patient with hypoplastic left heart syndrome status post heart transplantation at age of 7 days. She presented to our emergency room complaining of intermittent fever, chills, fatigue, poor appetite, and diarrhea.
A throat swab nucleic acid test was positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Intravenous fluids therapy was used for correction of hydration status. To the best of our knowledge this is the first reported case of non-pulmonary presentation of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in a pediatric heart transplant recipient, which was successfully managed conservatively.
Conclusions
Gastrointestinal manifestations can be the only presenting symptom in pediatric heart transplant recipients with COVID-19. Conservative treatment could be used successfully. Immunomodulatory medications that are used in heart transplant recipients may have protective value in SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Cite this Article (APA)
Abdelmonem, H., Ahmed, F. E., Ahmed, A. J., Jameel, A. A. (2020). Gastrointestinal presentation of COVID-19 in a pediatric heart transplant recipient. The Cardiothoracic Surgeon. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43057-020-00034-z
