pulmonary embolism and cardiac tamponade in critical care patients with covid-19; telemedicine’s role in developing countries:case reports and literature review

Introduction in this study, two cases that demonstrate the importance of bedside echocardiography and hands-off telemedicine technology for diagnosis and intervention in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) are discussed. case presentation we report two cases of cardiac emergency associated with covid-19. case 1 is a 50-year-old female patient with chronic hypertension and chronic renal failure. case 2 is a 64-year-old female with atrial fibrillation and recent stroke. both were admitted to an isolation intensive care unit that was designated specifically to patients with covid-19. conclusions during admission, both patients had sudden deterioration characterized by oxygen desaturation and hypotension necessitating inotropic support. as a result, for both patients, bedside echocardiography was performed by the attending intensivist. echocardiographic findings showed cardiac tamponade and acute pulmonary embolism, respectively, which were confirmed by a cardiologist through telemedicine technology. proper emergency management was initiated, and both patients recovered well. limited bedside transthoracic echocardiography had a front-line impact on the treatment and outcome of the two patients with covid-19. by implementing telemedicine technology, the lives of two patients were saved, demonstrating the significance of telemedicine in isolation intensive care units in the developing countries during the covid-19 pandemic.