COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases: main aspects

Summary of the report 

CV risk factors and CVD are present in many patients with COVID-19 and their presence is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular complications with new coronavirus infection (slide 2).

Moreover, the occurrence of cardiovascular complications in COVID-19 is a predictor of death (slide 3).

On the other hand, according to the combined data of a number of studies, in the presence of hypertension and chronic CVD, the risk of a severe course of COVID-19 itself is increased (slide 4).

Cardiovascular complications are possible even after a patient with COVID-19 is discharged from the hospital, and as it turned out, in many patients they first appear after discharge (slide 5).

According to observations made at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when compared with the previous year and months preceding the increase in the incidence of COVID-19, there is an increase in mortality from coronary artery disease and hypertension (slide 6).

COVID-19 has multiple adverse effects on the cardiovascular system (slide 7).

With COVID-19, for various reasons, myocardial damage occurs, leading, among other things, to the onset or aggravation of heart failure. Thus, the degree of increased cardiac troponin in the blood, on the one hand, correlates with the level of C-reactive protein, which reflects the severity of inflammation, and, on the other hand, with the level of NT-proBNP, which indicates myocardial dysfunction (slide 8).

The incidence of "macrovascular" thrombosis (deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, arterial thromboembolism) is associated with the severity of COVID-19 and their occurrence indicates an increased risk of death (slide 9).

Initial fears of the dangers of using ACE inhibitors/ARBs for COVID-19 were not confirmed (slide 10, 11).

The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are also associated with overloading the healthcare system and the consequences of self-isolation.

So, according to the analysis of the health care system in California, in parallel with the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, the frequency of hospitalization with acute myocardial infarction decreased (slide 12).

According to a large registry of 909 hospitals in 108 countries, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency of cardiovascular studies needed to diagnose and monitor treatment is decreasing (slide 13, 14).

Covid-19 and CVD (presentation)