At the Heart of the Matter: What do a cardiologist need to know about COVID19?

Abstract

After the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in late 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the number of confirmed cases worldwide has reached more than 4.2 million, resulting in a death toll of more than 293 thousand (as of May 13, 2020). Common symptoms associated with COVID-19 include fever, cough, loss of appetite, fatigue, short of breath and muscle aches. Loss or disturbances in taste and smell have also been reported in some cases. While most of the focus on COVID-19 has been on its pulmonary complications like pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), emerging evidence suggests that cardiovascular (CV) complications, resulting either from SARS-CoV-2 infection or from adverse effects of pharmacologic therapeutics, could contribute significantly to the mortality associated with COVID-19. This article briefly summarized recent reports on the cardiovascular complications linked to COVID-19 that every cardiologist should be aware of when treating these patients.