Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a risk of cardiac arrhythmia, acute coronary syndrome, heart failure and myocarditis, and the prognosis of COVID-19 has been associated with cardiovascular symptoms. However, there has not been enough information about cardiovascular involvement in patients who had recovered home-based mild symptoms of COVID-19 infection. Therefore, this study evaluates the prevalence of cardiac involvement and associated factors in home-based recovered COVİD-19 patients.
Subject and methods: A total of 64 participants who applied to cardiology outpatient clinics with cardiac symptoms after recovering from COVID infection were recorded between April and December 2020. The patients were divided into two according to cardiovascular involvement in the cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging results.
Results: No significant difference between the two groups regarding age and co-morbidities. Patients with cardiac involvement had higher C-reactive protein compared to without cardiac involvement patients. A total of 46 patients who recently recovered from COVID-19 had abnormal CMR findings such as myocardial late gadolinium enhancement or pericardial enhancement. In addition, the left ventricular ejection fraction and stroke volume were significantly lower in the cardiac involvement patients.
Conclusion: We demonstrate cardiac involvement in 46 patients (71%) with recent COVID-19, independent of pre-existing conditions. This indicates that there may be widespread cardiac involvement without high troponin values or severe clinical symptoms.
Keywords: COVID-19; Cardiac involvement; Cardiac magnetic resonance; Myocardial damage.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.