Abstract
BackgroundCOVID-19 has caused considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide and cardiac involvement has been reported during infection. The short-term cardiac outcome in survivors of COVID-19 is not known.ObjectiveTo examine the heart of patients who survived COVID-19 and to compare the cardiac outcome between patients who recovered from mild-to-moderate or severe illness.MethodsWith use of ECG and echocardiography, we examined the heart of 105 patients who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 and were consecutively recruited after hospital discharge while attending follow-up visits. Survivors of COVID-19 were compared with 105 matched controls. We also compared the cardiac outcome and lung ultrasound scan between COVID-19 patients who had mild-to-moderate or severe illness.ResultsCardiac data were collected a median of 41 days from the first detection of COVID-19. Symptoms were present in a low percentage of patients. In comparison with matched controls, no considerable structural or functional differences were observed in the heart of survivors of COVID-19. Lung ultrasound scan detected significantly greater residual pulmonary involvement in COVID-19 patients who had recovered from severe than mild-to-moderate illness. No significant differences were detected in ECG tracings nor were found in the left and right ventricular function of patients who had recovered from mild-to-moderate or severe illness.ConclusionsIn a short-term follow-up, no abnormalities were identified in the heart of survivors of COVID-19, nor cardiac differences were detected between patients who had different severity of illness. With the limitations of a cross-sectional study, these findings suggest that patients who recover from COVID-19 do not have considerable cardiac sequelae.Graphic abstract
Highlights
The dreadful pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) represents an unprecedented challenge for the healthcare community and has already left behind thousands of victims worldwide
Cardiac structure and function that were assessed by twodimensional, Doppler, and tissue-Doppler imaging (TDI) echocardiography did not differ from controls who were matched for age, sex, body mass index, blood pressure, and major coexisting conditions
Despite the descriptive nature of this study due to its observational design, these echocardiographic findings together with normality of serum troponin, strongly suggest that patients who recover from COVID-19 do not have considerable pathological sequelae in the heart
Summary
The dreadful pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) represents an unprecedented challenge for the healthcare community and has already left behind thousands of victims worldwide. COVID-19 has caused considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide and cardiac involvement has been reported during infection. Objective To examine the heart of patients who survived COVID-19 and to compare the cardiac outcome between patients who recovered from mild-to-moderate or severe illness. We compared the cardiac outcome and lung ultrasound scan between COVID-19 patients who had mild-to-moderate or severe illness. Lung ultrasound scan detected significantly greater residual pulmonary involvement in COVID-19 patients who had recovered from severe than mild-to-moderate illness. No significant differences were detected in ECG tracings nor were found in the left and right ventricular function of patients who had recovered from mild-to-moderate or severe illness. Conclusions In a short-term follow-up, no abnormalities were identified in the heart of survivors of COVID-19, nor cardiac differences were detected between patients who had different severity of illness. With the limitations of a cross-sectional study, these findings suggest that patients who recover from COVID-19 do not have considerable cardiac sequelae
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