AUTHOR=Gao Yi-Ping , Zhou Wei , Huang Pei-Na , Liu Hong-Yun , Bi Xiao-Jun , Zhu Ying , Sun Jie , Tang Qiao-Ying , Li Li , Zhang Jun , Sun Rui-Ying , Cheng Xue-Qing , Liu Ya-Ni , Deng You-Bin
TITLE=Normalized Cardiac Structure and Function in COVID-19 Survivors Late After Recovery
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
VOLUME=8
YEAR=2021
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2021.756790
DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2021.756790
ISSN=2297-055X
ABSTRACT=Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 can result in myocardial injury in the acute phase. However, information on the late cardiac consequences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is limited.
Methods: We conducted a prospective observational cohort study to investigate the late cardiac consequences of COVID-19. Standard echocardiography and myocardial strain assessment were performed, and cardiac blood biomarkers were tested in 86 COVID-19 survivors 327 days (IQR 318–337 days) after recovery. Comparisons were made with 28 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls and 30 risk factor-matched patients.
Results: There were no significant differences in all echocardiographic structural and functional parameters, including left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain, right ventricular (RV) longitudinal strain, LV end-diastolic volume, RV dimension, and the ratio of peak early velocity in mitral inflow to peak early diastolic velocity in the septal mitral annulus (E/e') among COVID-19 survivors, healthy controls and risk factor-matched controls. Even 26 patients with myocardial injury at admission did not have any echocardiographic structural and functional abnormalities. There were no significant differences among the three groups with respect to serum concentrations of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (cTnI).
Conclusion: This study showed that COVID-19 survivors, including those with myocardial injury at admission and those with severe and critical types of illness, do not have any echocardiographic evidence of cardiac structural and functional abnormalities 327 days after diagnosis.