Cardiovascular complications in coronavirus disease-2019 patients

Background and Aims: Cardiovascular (CV) complications of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are neither well-defined nor comprehensively characterized. Hence, long-term studies are required to monitor silent but progressive CV complications postrecovery in COVID-19 patients. Our aim of the study was to assess and determine the presence of CV morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at our institute. All COVID-19-positive patients who were admitted in the intensive care unit during April 3, 2020-May 23, 2021, were recruited for the study. A total of 1460 patients were enrolled and monitored until discharge/death. Patients were evaluated based on demographics, clinical data, and laboratory values and 42 patients among them underwent coronary angiography for an adequate understanding of CV complications. Results: The total reported deaths among the study sample were 453 (31%). Common preexisting clinical conditions among them were hypertension 520 (35.6%), diabetes 211 (14.45%), CV disease 88 (6.02%), and hypothyroidism 61 (4.17%). A total of 149 patients displayed elevated creatine phosphokinase-MB (CPK-MB) levels, while 141 patients displayed elevated hs-TnI levels. The absolute rise of cardiac troponin (hs-TnI) and CPK-MB displayed a technically positive correlation, but a weaker relationship (r: 0.2113, P < 0.01 for correlation). Twenty-two out of 42 patients showed the presence of single/multivessel disease and 31 patients displayed mild-to-severe left ventricular dysfunction. Conclusions: The results of the current study provide evidence for the risk and burden of CV complications among COVID-19 patients. Hence, attention to long-term CV health and disease among COVID-19 survivors is necessary.