Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic in 2019. It remains uncertain to what extent COVID-19 effects the heart in healthy individuals. To evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 on cardiac structure and function in middle-aged and older individuals.
Methods: A single-centre prospective observational study enroled a total of 124 participants (84 with history of COVID-19 [COVID-19 group] and 40 without a history of COVID-19 [non-COVID group]). All participants underwent echocardiography with speckle tracking to assess cardiac structure and function at rest and during peak exercise.
Results: There were no differences in left and right ventricular diastolic function (p ≥ 0.05) between the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 groups. Participants in COVID-19 group demonstrated higher left ventricular mass (130 ± 39.8 vs. 113 ± 27.2 g, p = 0.008) and relative wall thickness (0.38 ± 0.07 vs. 0.36 ± 0.13, p = 0.049). Left ventricular global longitudinal strain was reduced in the COVID-19 group at rest and at peak-exercise (rest: 18.3 ± 2.01 vs. 19.3 ± 1.53%, p = 0.004; peak exercise: 19.1 ± 2.20 vs. 21.0 ± 1.58%, p ≤ 0.001). However, no difference was seen in resting left ventricular ejection fraction (58 ± 2.89 vs. 59 ± 2.51%, p = 0.565) between groups. Right ventricular fractional area change was reduced in the COVID-19 group (p = 0.012).
Conclusion: Cardiac structural and functional remodelling was observed in middle-aged and older otherwise healthy individuals with a history of COVID-19.
Methods: A single-centre prospective observational study enroled a total of 124 participants (84 with history of COVID-19 [COVID-19 group] and 40 without a history of COVID-19 [non-COVID group]). All participants underwent echocardiography with speckle tracking to assess cardiac structure and function at rest and during peak exercise.
Results: There were no differences in left and right ventricular diastolic function (p ≥ 0.05) between the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 groups. Participants in COVID-19 group demonstrated higher left ventricular mass (130 ± 39.8 vs. 113 ± 27.2 g, p = 0.008) and relative wall thickness (0.38 ± 0.07 vs. 0.36 ± 0.13, p = 0.049). Left ventricular global longitudinal strain was reduced in the COVID-19 group at rest and at peak-exercise (rest: 18.3 ± 2.01 vs. 19.3 ± 1.53%, p = 0.004; peak exercise: 19.1 ± 2.20 vs. 21.0 ± 1.58%, p ≤ 0.001). However, no difference was seen in resting left ventricular ejection fraction (58 ± 2.89 vs. 59 ± 2.51%, p = 0.565) between groups. Right ventricular fractional area change was reduced in the COVID-19 group (p = 0.012).
Conclusion: Cardiac structural and functional remodelling was observed in middle-aged and older otherwise healthy individuals with a history of COVID-19.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | (In-Press) |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging |
| Volume | (In-Press) |
| Early online date | 8 Oct 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 8 Oct 2024 |
Bibliographical note
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Funder
The study was supported by Coventry University COVID‐19 Research and Innovation fund for the PhD Studentship developed by Professor Djordje Jakovljevic and awarded to Mushidur Rahman.Funding
The study was supported by Coventry University COVID‐19 Research and Innovation fund for the PhD Studentship developed by Professor Djordje Jakovljevic and awarded to Mushidur Rahman.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Coventry University |
Keywords
- cardiac structure and function
- COVID‐19
- speckle tracking echocardiography