Sunday, July 19, 2020

Coronavirus concern: More than half of all COVID-19 patients found to have damaged hearts

An international survey of heart scans in people treated for COVID-19 found that 55 per cent of patients had an abnormality.

One in seven patients were found to have severe abnormalities.

The study adds further evidence to the emerging picture of COVID-19 as a disease of the vascular system in a significant number of cases, and not always primarily a respiratory disease.

New Daily 

Coronavirus concern: More than half of all COVID-19 patients found to have damaged hearts

17 comments:

Matt Franko said...

Did they do the heart scans BEFORE the covid? To compare?

Kaivey said...

I doubt it.

Calgacus said...

Even without scanning them before, 1200+ patients is a big sample; can be pretty sure that the prior abnormalities were about the same as the general population average. Three quarters of the people had no heart disease before. Perhaps most of the other 300 had had scans. So the damage is real and due to the virus.

Matt Franko said...

Maybe the anxiety of having the virus is causing heart abnormalities...

Greg said...

I’d call BS on much of this. Sensational journalism here

One problem I see with this article is that they are studying these patients in the midst of their disease. When you are having problems oxygenating you are going to have strain on your heart. Low oxygen raises pulmonary artery pressures and stresses the RV. We see this ALL THE TIME in cardiac surgery where we are monitoring cardiac echo continuously. We see frequent episodes of RV and LV strain and most of it resolves with proper pharmacologic therapy or maneuvers to improve oxygen delivery. Doing an echo when a patient is in their most critical condition is not necessarily indicative that long term heart damage is imminent nor does this warrant calling this a vascular dz

Takotsobu cardiomyopathy is known as broken heart syndrome and can be seen as a result of any severe stress, sometimes from severe grief even. The 3% new infarctions is high, but again I’d refrain from saying this “shows Covid is a vascular disease”

The problem I have with that language is you can’t separate respiratory and vascular in many ways. Any inflammatory process, which comes from the bodies response to the virus, is going to affect the vascular system in a major way. And if you can’t oxygenate well, EVERY organ system is stressed. Some organs have different thresholds before they become compromised but heart and brain are pretty much operating like our just in time economy. You cut oxygen to them and the oxygen debt rises fast.

We shouldn’t need articles like this to appreciate the risks from this virus. Sad!


Matt Franko said...

Greg,

What the HELL is going on in Florida????

Is that quick test f-ed up???

Matt Franko said...

Kevin keep riding and getting your exercise in and focus on your general health as you are able...

And eat healthy and get rest ... EEEEEEEASY on the alcohol... and certainly NO drug abuse...

Maybe give yourself some sort of mental challenge (THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE MEMORIZATION) during this to take your mind off of the virus ...

Greg said...

All I know about Florida is don’t go there. Major city hospitals approaching 100% ICU capacity.

hoonose said...

Looks like in a third of those patients, their docs had to contend with some bullshit.

Abnormalities were often "unheralded or severe, and imaging changed management in one-third of patients."

At what point does the info go from ho-hum to sensational?

Peter Pan said...

You can go to Florida if you're not in a risk group.
But why go to Florida in the summer? The subtropics are torrid during summer.

Matt Franko said...

Gotta be in the HVAC systems ... people retreating inside and concentrating virus...

Grocery stores... all the refrigerated sections ...

Kaivey said...

The cycling is magnificent. And I've started learning the piano again.

Peter Pan said...

A/C is a culprit for catching colds. Heat stroke sucks though.

Greg said...

It is mostly transmitted person to person. What’s so hard about this? Refusing to wear masks, continuing your normal high contact /close distance social practices is the recipe for continued spread.

Peter Pan said...

Let it spread, for goodness sakes. Then we can move on to more interesting topics.

NeilW said...

"Refusing to wear masks, continuing your normal high contact /close distance social practices is the recipe for continued spread."

Like every other respiratory disease in history. And like every other respiratory disease it then dies away of its own accord.

It's likely we'll now have a Covid season like we have a flu season, and that it will affect the elderly again.

Greg said...

Yes Neil but unlike EVERY other resp dz in history it is more more contagious and can overwhelm our health resources quickly. Stick to explaining bank credit, central bank operations and govt debt

Going the route of acquiring herd immunity quickly is an extremely stupid idea