Heart Damage Found in COVID-19 Patients
A German study has found evidence that COVID-19 may impact the heart even after patients have recovered from the virus. Researchers found heart damage in COVID-19 patients months after their recovery. (1, 2)
The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Cardiology, examined 100 patients from the University Hospital Frankfurt COVID-19 Registry. The ages of the patients ranged between 45 and 53. Two-thirds of the patients in the study were able to recover from the virus at home. The other 33 patients required hospitalization. (1, 2)
Some patients had preexisting conditions, including asthma, hypertension, diabetes, known coronary artery disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, none of the patients had known heart failure or cardiomyopathy before contracting COVID-19. (1)
Researchers examined cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) taken two and a half months after the patients were diagnosed with the virus. They compared them with imaging from healthy volunteers who had not had COVID-19. The volunteer groups were matched by age and sex and separated by healthy volunteers and risk factor-matched patients. (1, 2)
Researchers found heart abnormalities in 78 of the patients. A group of 60 of those patients showed ongoing myocardial inflammation. Researchers wrote that these findings were “independent of preexisting conditions, severity and overall course of the acute illness, and the time from the original diagnosis.” (1)
This is a preliminary study that has some limitations. However, as the researchers note, “These findings indicate the need for ongoing investigation of the long-term cardiovascular consequences of COVID-19.” (1)
MRIs Find Heart Damage After COVID-19
Without this study, we may not have learned about the possibility of heart damage from COVID-19. In the standard clinical setting, practitioners usually use an echocardiogram, which wouldn’t have seen these heart abnormalities. The MRIs were necessary to find them because none of the patients in the study showed any symptoms. (2)
“When this came to our attention, we were struck,” Dr. Clyde Yancy told USA TODAY. Dr. Yancy is the chief cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and an editor at JAMA Cardiology. (2)
“We’re not saying that COVID-19 causes heart failure… but it presents early evidence that there’s potentially injury to the heart,” Yancy said. (2)
The body has a high inflammatory response to COVID-19. According to Dr. Thomas Maddox, the chair of the American College of Cardiology’s Science and Quality Committee, ongoing heart inflammation could cause weakening of the cardiac muscle. He told USA Today that, in limited cases, it could also cause irregular heartbeats. (2)
Ongoing Studies Necessary
While the study brings up an important possible impact of COVID-19 for the medical community to consider, more studies are needed to confirm that the virus can cause heart damage. Additionally, it would be helpful to have imaging of patients before they become sick. This will help establish that COVID-19 can cause heart abnormalities. (2)
“We need to understand longer term clinical symptoms and outcome that might occur in patients who’ve had it and recovered,” Maddox said to USA Today. “That will just take some time to look at as more and more people get the infection and recover.” (1)
