Cardiac damage and tropism of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

Until now, the World Health Organization registered over 771 million cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection worldwide, of which 6.97 million resulted in death. Virus-related cardiovascular events and pre-existing heart problems have been identified as major contributing factors to global infection-related morbidity and mortality, emphasizing the necessity for risk assessment and future prevention. In this review, we highlight cardiac manifestations that might arise from an infection with SARS-CoV-2 and provide an overview of known comorbidities that worsen the outcome. Additionally, we aim to summarize the therapeutic strategies proposed to reverse virus-associated myocardial damage, which will be further highlighted in this review, with an outlook to successful recovery and prevention. [Display omitted] •Myocardial damage is a typical cardiac manifestation following SARS-CoV-2 infection.•Mechanisms include inflammation, oxidative stress, innate immune response, apoptosis.•Age, gender, pre-existing heart problems, comorbidities predict in-hospital mortality.•Healthy diets and physical activity can alleviate the risk of developing long COVID.