Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess differences in
echocardiographic findings between a normal adult and a post Covid-19
population. Background: Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is known to
produce a systemic inflammatory syndrome, with pulmonary and cardiac
involvement. However, the cardiovascular impact in patients with mild
clinical forms of the disease is uncertain. There is small evidence
supporting the finding of global ventricular longitudinal strain (GLS)
alterations in these patients. Methods: One hundred and five consecutive
patients admitted to an ambulatory care center, underwent a conventional
transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) study with acquisition of GLS.
Patients were included if they underwent a positive diagnostic reverse
transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, having no relevant
preexisting conditions, with exception of obesity. Demographic and
clinical data were prospectively obtained. For this purpose, we
considered a normal cut off point of -17,09%, based on previous
studies. Echocardiographic findings were compared with those of 67
healthy individuals. Results: Out of 172 patients, 105 correspond to
Covid-19 group, and 67 to healthy individuals. There were no significant
differences in GLS regarding age, left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and
E/e’ ratio. The multivariate analysis showed that the percentage of
patients with pathological GLS values was significantly higher within
the Covid-19 and male groups (OR 6.02 IC 1.88-22.57; p 0.004 and OR 3.17
IC 1.03-10.50; p 0.05, respectively). Conclusion: These data support
that Covid-19 infection could affect ventricular GLS and encourage the
use of conventional TTE with GLS measurements in patients with
non-significant forms of the disease.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.