Cardiac Complications in Patients Infected with COVID-19

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death and morbidity worldwide. The appearance of the pandemic with COVID-19 at the beginning of this year all over the world makes the approach of the patients different. SARS-CoV-2 has major implications for the cardiovascular system. In addition to acute complications, COVID-19 infection can predispose to cardiovascular disease. Recent data show that myocarditis occurs in some patients with COVID-19, a few days after the onset of fever. This indicates the possibility of viral nature of myocardial lesions. In addition, patients infected with COVID-19 may be tachycardic (with or without palpitations) in relation to other symptoms related to the disease (fever, tachypnea, pain). They noticed several particular aspects, including rhythm disorders.

It is known that in patients with pneumonia, hypercoagulability and systemic inflammatory activity may persist for a long time. This explains the occurrence of arterial and venous thrombotic complications in acute coronary syndromes or venous thromboembolism. The latest guideline for the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease during the COVID-19 pandemic states that, although there is no solid evidence to date, the incidence of pulmonary thromboembolism in infected patients is high, thus recommending prophylactic doses of anticoagulant. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions of patients and poses an international health threat and considerable efforts are currently being made to evaluate new therapies to counteract this virus.