Half of those hospitalized with COVID-19 have heart problems

Half of those hospitalized with COVID-19 have heart problems
Half of those hospitalized with COVID-19 have heart problems
Anonim

More than half of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 are diagnosed with serious heart damage after being discharged from the hospital, according to a study in the UK. The authors consider these problems to be a consequence of the coronavirus infection. The results are published in the European Heart Journal.

Many patients hospitalized with COVID-19, especially with its severe form, during the critical phase of the disease, when the body develops an excessive immune response to infection, have elevated levels of troponin, a protein that is released into the bloodstream when an artery is blocked or there is inflammation. Doctors consider this protein to be a marker of heart damage.

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MRI of the damaged heart. Blue means decreased blood flow

Scientists from the United Kingdom and the United States examined 148 people who were undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in intensive care units of six emergency hospitals in London by June 2020 and who had high troponin levels during treatment.

About a month after discharge, half of them, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), revealed serious heart damage, including muscle inflammation - myocarditis, scarring or tissue death - heart attack, limited blood supply - ischemia, or a combination of all three.

The most common form of heart injury, occurring in 80 patients, accounting for 54 percent, was scarring or damage to the heart muscle, but not so severe as to interfere with the function of the heart.

The MRI results were compared with control patients who did not have COVID-19, as well as 40 healthy volunteers.

“We found evidence of a high incidence of cardiac muscle injury that could be seen on scans a month or two after discharge. While some may have existed before, MRI scans show that some were new and likely caused by COVID-19. The study leader Marianna Fontana, professor of cardiology at University College London, quoted in a press release from the European Society of Cardiology. types of injuries.

The elevated troponin levels in critically ill patients are partly due to the fact that many of them previously had heart-related health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, according to the researchers. However, during a severe COVID-19 infection, the heart undergoes additional stress, leading to new injuries.

Some of these injuries, according to the scientists, do not impair the pumping function of the heart, and may not have been identified outside the scope of this study, but there are concerns that they will increase the risk of developing heart failure in the future.

"These findings give us two possibilities. First, they help us find ways to prevent the injury itself. Second, the effects of impairments during recovery will identify those who will benefit from treatment with specific supportive drugs to protect heart function over time." - says Fontana.

The authors note that their findings are based only on the results of a survey of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, and it is not known how common heart damage is in those who have had moderate to mild coronavirus infection. Either way, assessing troponin levels would be beneficial for all patients with covid, the scientists say.

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