Background
Cardiac injury has been reported in up to 30% of COVID-19 patients. However, cardiac injury was mainly defined by troponin elevation without description of associated structural abnormalities and its time course has never been studied.
Research question
What are the electrocardiographic and echocardiographic abnormalities as well as their time course in critically ill COVID-19 patients?
Study Design and Methods
The cardiac function of 43 consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted in two intensive care units (ICU) was prospectively and repeatedly assessed combining electrocardiographic, cardiac biomarkers and transthoracic echocardiographic analyses from ICU admission (D0) to ICU discharge or death or to a maximum follow-up of 14 days. Cardiac injury was defined by troponin elevation and newly diagnosed electrocardiographic and/or echocardiographic abnormalities.
Results
At D0, 49% of patients had a cardiac injury and 70% of patients experienced cardiac injury within the first 14 days of ICU stay, with a median time of occurrence of 3[0-7] days. The most frequent abnormalities were electrocardiographic and/or echocardiographic signs of left ventricular (LV) abnormalities (87% of patients with cardiac injury), right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction (47%), pericardial effusion (43%), new-onset atrial arrhythmias (33%), LV relaxation impairment (33%) and LV systolic dysfunction (13%). Between D0 and D14, the incidence of pericardial effusion and of new-onset atrial arrhythmias increased, the incidence of electrocardiographic and/or echocardiographic signs of LV abnormalities as well as the incidence of LV relaxation impairment remained stable, whereas the incidence of RV and LV systolic dysfunction decreased.
Interpretation
Cardiac injury is common and early in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Electrocardiographic and/or echocardiographic signs of LV abnormalities were the most frequent abnormalities and patients with cardiac injury experienced more RV than LV systolic dysfunction.
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.