COVID-19 may cause heart problems: study

The average age of recovered COVID-19 patients in the study was about 49 years. About two-thirds of the patients had recovered from the infection at home.

When the patients were analysed more than two months after recovery, many appeared to have developed cardiac issues: scans of 78 patients showed there had been structural changes to their hearts, while 76 of them showed cardiac injuries that are usually seen after a heart attack. Some 60 patients out of the 100 who were examined had developed signs of inflammation in the heart (myocarditis).

The scientists who did the study observed that the patients were in a comparatively younger age bracket and did not complain of any heart problems prior to infection.

Another study published in the same journal investigating COVID-19 in patients who had died from the disease also found high levels of the virus in the hearts when autopsies were performed. This study involved the reading of 39 autopsies and the average age, in this case, was 85, a significantly older cohort.

More than half of the autopsies—24 out of 39—showed high levels of the virus in the hearts. 

The findings of this research, along with previous studies looking into heart complications arising out of COVID-19 has cardiologists worried over the long-term damage this viral infection can cause in patients even after they may have recovered from it. They have also indicated that COVID-19 could accelerate cardiac events such as heart failure. 

Research is still ongoing to find out whether the complications arising out of COVID-19 would go away, or may cause permanent (chronic) damage to the heart.

People with comorbidities have been warned to take extra precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially people living with underlying conditions such as various types of cancer, lung diseases, gastrointestinal issues, neurological problems as well as those with various heart diseases. This is due to the fact that those living with comorbidities are already immunocompromised, and are at the risk of suffering from the severe symptoms of the disease, increasing the likelihood of fatalities as a result.

A British Heart Foundation study that was published in the European Heart Journal looked at heart scans of COVID-19 patients admitted in a hospital. The research, performed by doctors at Edinburgh University looked at echocardiograms (ECG) of as many as 1,200 patients from 69 countries. It found that over 55% of patients had developed heart complications from the infection. One out of seven patients was seen with signs of severe abnormalities, according to the report.

Read more: Complications of severe COVID-19 infection

The findings of the above-mentioned studies are in line with research from other parts of the world as well. Studies that were performed much earlier in China and Italy—two worst-hit countries during the initial outbreak of the disease—also showed heart damage in nearly 20% of all patients with COVID-19.

The scientists behind the study, which was published earlier this month, explained that this abnormality was taking place due to the inflammation and fluid build-up occurring in the lungs. The heart, as a result, was having to work harder to carry fresh, oxygenated blood to the rest of the body in response to the infection, leading to heart failures or tissue damage to the heart muscles.

The findings of the studies indicate how important imaging tests such as ultrasounds, ECGs and MRI scans can be in finding out about the deeper damage this infection could be causing in different parts of the body—to analyse patterns and understand more about the infection and its complications.