May high blood viscosity predict cardiac involvement in COVID-19 patients?

Abstract

Aims: Assessing the effects of whole blood viscosity (WBV) on prognosis and deterioration in cardiac parameters in COVID-19 patients after recovery using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) and echocardiography is the purpose of this study. Methods: The study involved 70 patients. Patients who had COVID-19 pneumonia were admitted to the hospital. All patients met the eligibility criteria if they remained symptom-free of respiratory and cardiac symptoms and had negative swab test results at the end of the isolation period, for at least two weeks following the positive swab test result. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed within 24 hours prior to CMRI. WBV was measured in centipoises (cP) at 208 seconds-1 shear rate. The median value of WBV was calculated for the entire study population, which was subsequently utilized to divide the population into two subgroups. These were designated as high WBV and low WBV subgroups. Results: Elevated levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit, total protein, C-reactive protein, D-dimer, and fibrinogen were observed in individuals with high WBV. Conversely, TAPSE, S, and FAC were notably reduced in those with high WBV. Notably, CMRI revealed significant increases in native T1, native T2 mapping signal, and extracellular volume among patients with high WBV. Furthermore, in individuals with high WBV, there was a significant decrease in right ventricle stroke volume and right ventricle ejection fraction, accompanied by a notable increase in right ventricle end-systolic volume. Conclusion: WBV values measured during hospital admission may have early and late prognostic importance for COVID-19 infection.