The World Health Organization announced on March 11, 2020 that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic. The data of studies confirming that cardiovascular diseases are a common concomitant pathology among patients with COVID-19 and cardiological patients have a more severe course and high mortality are presented. The mechanism of interaction between COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases has been identified. First, angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2), a key enzyme in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, is recognized as a functional receptor for SARS-CoV-2. Secondly, it was proved that SARS-CoV-2 through the cytokine mechanism causes direct damage to the myocardium and can disrupt the function of the cardiovascular system. This review highlights the need for continued use of ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers in the treatment of patients with arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease and heart failure, as well as recommendations for urgent and emergency care for cardiac patients in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The article is devoted to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) – the method for chronic heart failure treatment with biventricular pacing. The article examines the history of the method development from the first attempts to eliminate heart dyssynchrony to the present. Over the past 20 years, the method has been improved both in technical terms and in terms of the formation of modern indications for its application. Based on the results of randomized clinical trials to study the effectiveness of the method, the improvement of the testimony and criteria for the selection of patients for the CPT is shown. A clinical case of successful CRT in a patient with cardiomegaly, severe heart failure and complete left bundle brunch block is described.