Background: Acute pancreatitis can rarely present with electrocardiographic changes that imitate myocardial ischemia. Even rarer is for acute pancreatitis to present with ST segment elevation in contiguous leads, suggestive of an acute coronary syndrome. In this comprehensive review article, we highlight diagnostic challenges and examine possible pathophysiological causes as seen through 34 total cases in which acute pancreatitis has been found to mimic an acute myocardial infarction. Summary: It has been shown that regardless of the severity of acute pancreatitis, it can be associated with myocardial injury of varying presentation. Thus far, there have been 34 total cases where acute pancreatitis presented with electrocardiographic changes consistent with acute myocardial infarction without true coronary artery thrombosis. An inferior wall ST-elevation myocardial infarction pattern was the most frequently demonstrated. Many hypotheses have been proposed as to the mechanism of injury including decreased coronary perfusion, direct myocyte damage by pancreatic proteolytic enzymes, indirect parasympathetic injury, electrolyte derangements, and coronary vasospasms. Given the complexity of the clinical presentation, thorough subjective and objective evaluation can be vital in guiding to diagnosis and possibly more invasive testing. Key Messages: It is imperative that clinicians are aware that acute pancreatitis can mimic an acute myocardial infarction. Although we have started to better understand the pathological mechanisms for this phenomenon, further research focused on specific molecular target areas is needed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted healthcare delivery to patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The aim of our retrospective study was to determine the effect of COVID-19 on inpatient STEMI outcomes and to investigate changes in cardiac care delivery during 2020. We utilized the National Inpatient Sample database to examine inpatient mortality and cardiac procedures among STEMI patients with and without COVID-19. In our study, STEMI patients with COVID-19 had higher inpatient mortality (47.4% vs. 11.2%, aOR: 3.8, 95% CI: 3.2–4.6, p < 0.001), increased length of stay (9.0 days vs. 4.3 days, p < 0.001) and higher cost of hospitalization (USD 172,518 vs. USD 131,841, p = 0.004) when compared to STEMI patients without COVID-19. STEMI patients with COVID-19 also received significantly less invasive cardiac procedures (coronary angiograms: 30.4% vs. 50.8%, p < 0.001; PCI: 32.9% vs. 70.1%, p < 0.001; CABG: 0.9% vs. 4.1%, p < 0.001) and were more likely to receive systemic thrombolytic therapy (4.2% vs. 1.1%, p < 0.001) when compared to STEMI patients without COVID-19. Our findings are the result of complications of SARS-CoV2 infection as well as alterations in healthcare delivery due to the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic.