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Review
. 2023 Mar 1;15(3):e35658.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.35658. eCollection 2023 Mar.

COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Diseases: A Literature Review From Pathogenesis to Diagnosis

Aroma Naeem  1 , Shehroze Tabassum  1 , Saima Gill  1 , Maleeka Z Khan  1 , Nimra Mumtaz  1 , Qamoos Qaiser  2 , Mubashar Karamat  1 , Mashhood Arif  3 , Farhan Naeem  1 , Ahmed Afifi  4 , Jawad Basit  5   6 , Abdulqadir J Nashwan  7
Affiliations
Review

COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Diseases: A Literature Review From Pathogenesis to Diagnosis

Aroma Naeem et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) took the world by storm after the first case of COVID-19 emerged in China on December 8, 2019. The disease is generally considered as an infection of the respiratory system, but serious life-threatening myocardial injuries have been reported with this infection. Coronavirus can damage cardiac myocytes by entering the cell through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptor binding. Myocardial infarction, myocarditis, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy are cardiac clinical manifestations commonly seen among patients affected by COVID-19. These cardiac pathologies are seen both during ongoing infection and post-infection. Elevated levels of myoglobin, troponin, creatine kinase-MB, plasma interleukin-6, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) have been found in COVID-19-associated myocardial injuries. The diagnostic modalities used in myocardial injuries due to COVID-19 include electrocardiography (ECG), cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), endomyocardial biopsy, echocardiography (Echo), and computerized tomography (CT-Scan). This literature review will discuss, in detail, the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis of myocardial injuries due to COVID-19.

Keywords: acute myocardial infarction; cardiovascular insult; covid-19; dysrhythmia; echocardiography; myocardial injuries; myocarditis; sars-cov-2; troponin.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Illustrating pathogenesis involved in myocardial insult by COVID-19.
Authors’ original work ACE-2: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2; FDPs: Fibrin degradation products.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Illustrating myocardial clinical manifestations by COVID-19.
Authors’ original work AMI: Acute myocardial infarction; COVID-19: Coronavirus disease of 2019.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Illustrating modalities for diagnosing myocardial injuries due to COVID-19.
Authors’ original work COVID-19: Coronavirus disease of 2019; LDH: Lactate dehydrogenase; CK-MB: Creatine kinase-myocardial band; NT-proBNP: N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide; CK: Creatine kinase; MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging; Echo: Echocardiogram; COVID: Coronavirus disease; CT: Computed tomography.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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