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Review
. 2020 May;31(5):1003-1008.
doi: 10.1111/jce.14479. Epub 2020 Apr 13.

Cardiac and arrhythmic complications in patients with COVID-19

Adriano Nunes Kochi  1 , Ana Paula Tagliari  2 , Giovanni Battista Forleo  3 , Gaetano Michele Fassini  1 , Claudio Tondo  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Cardiac and arrhythmic complications in patients with COVID-19

Adriano Nunes Kochi et al. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2020 May.

Abstract

In December 2019, the world started to face a new pandemic situation, the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although coronavirus disease (COVID-19) clinical manifestations are mainly respiratory, major cardiac complications are being reported. Cardiac manifestations etiology seems to be multifactorial, comprising direct viral myocardial damage, hypoxia, hypotension, enhanced inflammatory status, ACE2-receptors downregulation, drug toxicity, endogenous catecholamine adrenergic status, among others. Studies evaluating patients with COVID-19 presenting cardiac injury markers show that it is associated with poorer outcomes, and arrhythmic events are not uncommon. Besides, drugs currently used to treat the COVID-19 are known to prolong the QT interval and can have a proarrhythmic propensity. This review focus on COVID-19 cardiac and arrhythmic manifestations and, in parallel, makes an appraisal of other virus epidemics as SARS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and H1N1 influenza.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; arrhythmia; myocardial damage; myocarditis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanisms and consequences of COVID‐19 myocardial damage. COVID‐19, coronavirus disease
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