Signs of Cardiac Damage Even in Younger, Nonhospitalized COVID-19 Patients
A series of middle-aged patients followed more than 2 months after diagnosis showed that most had abnormal results on CMR.
A series of middle-aged patients followed more than 2 months after diagnosis showed that most had abnormal results on CMR.
www.tctmd.com
“There are more signs that COVID-19 may cause damage to the heart that lasts beyond the acute phase, based on an imaging study conducted at a single center in Germany. Despite the fact that 67% of the patients who volunteered for the study never required hospitalization, 78% had abnormal cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) findings 2 to 3 months after testing positive for the virus.
“These were not the patients that had problems or any cardiac symptoms at all,” lead author Valentina Puntmann, MD, PhD (University Hospital Frankfurt, Germany), told TCTMD, explaining that anyone with a positive COVID-19 test result had been invited to participate through the hospital’s testing clinic. “Quite a few of them did feel shortness of breath but they didn't think it came from the heart, just that they hadn't fully recovered—something was not right.”