Alterations of Left Ventricular Function Persisting during Post-Acute COVID-19 in Subjects without Previously Diagnosed Cardiovascular Pathology

Abstract (1) Background: Coronavirus infection (Covid-19) has emerged as a severe medical condition, associated with high pulmonary morbidity and often with cardiovascular (CV) complications. This study aims to evidence the persistence of left ventricular (LV) systolic function (LV-SF) alterations and diastolic dysfunction (DD) in COVID-19 patients without history of cardiovascular (CV) diseases by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). (2) Methods: 125 patients, aged under 55 years, hospitalized during the first outbreak of Covid-19 for moderate pneumonia, underwent a comprehensive cardiologic examination and TTE at 6–10 weeks after discharge. Their initial in-hospital laboratory data and thorax computer tomography (TCT) were accessed from the electronic database of the hospital. (3) Results: with TTE, we documented alterations of LV-SF and DD in 8.8% of patients and in 16.8% only patterns of DD, statistically correlated with the initial levels of creatin-kinase (CK-MB) and inflammatory factors. Multivariate regression analysis evidenced that CK-MB levels, age, and body mass index (BMI) are responsible for 65% of LV-SF decrease. (4) Conclusions: Alterations of LV-SF and DD are frequent in post-acute COVID-19 infection and are responsible for the persistence of symptoms. Elevated myocardial necrosis markers during the acute phase seem to predict subsequent alteration of cardiac performance. University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Victor Babes” Timisoara, E. Murgu Square, Nr. 2, 300041 Timisoara, Romania

摘要 (1) 研究背景：新型冠状病毒感染（COVID-19）是一种重症疾病，可导致较高的肺部发病率，且常伴随心血管（CV）并发症。本研究旨在通过经胸超声心动图（TTE），评估无心血管疾病史的COVID-19患者康复后，其左心室收缩功能（LV-SF）异常与舒张功能障碍（DD）的持续发生情况。(2) 研究方法：纳入125名55岁以下的患者，这些患者在COVID-19首次疫情期间因中度肺炎住院，并于出院后6至10周接受了全面心脏检查与经胸超声心动图（TTE）检测。研究人员从医院电子数据库中调取了患者入院时的实验室检测数据及胸部计算机断层扫描（TCT）结果。(3) 研究结果：经胸超声心动图（TTE）检测显示，8.8%的患者同时存在左心室收缩功能（LV-SF）异常与舒张功能障碍（DD），另有16.8%的患者仅表现出舒张功能障碍（DD）；上述心脏异常与患者入院时的肌酸激酶（CK-MB）及炎症因子水平具有统计学相关性。多变量回归分析表明，肌酸激酶（CK-MB）水平、年龄与体质量指数（BMI）可解释65%的左心室收缩功能下降情况。(4) 研究结论：急性COVID-19感染后，左心室收缩功能（LV-SF）异常与舒张功能障碍（DD）较为常见，且与患者症状持续存在密切相关。急性阶段升高的心肌坏死标志物或可预测后续心脏功能异常。罗马尼亚蒂米什瓦拉维克多·巴贝什医科大学，E·穆尔古广场2号，邮编300041