ABSTRACT
Background Cardiac muscle injury has been described as a known consequence of coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) with poor clinical outcome. We aim to study the correlation between myocardial muscle injury and specific echocardiographic findings and, hence the association with mortality. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort at the University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, under IRB of L20-172. We included COVID-19 patients from March 2020 until July 2020 who had transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) during their hospital admission. Myocardial muscle injury was defined by elevated troponin. Results A total of 101 patients were included. The mean age was 60 years, and 69.3 % were males. A total of 66 patients had a myocardial injury. Patients with myocardial injury had higher mortality than those without myocardial injury with a P-value of < 0.05, and this value remained significant after running a multiple regression analysis model. Only 4 patients had an ejection fraction of less than 40%. 11 patients had pericardial effusion. Only 4 patients had tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE)<1.5 cm. The mortality rate was 29.7%, and only 6 patients developed acute myocardial infarction. No difference was found between the two groups regarding the different echocardiographic findings. Conclusion Patients with COVID-19 and myocardial injury had higher mortality than those without myocardial injury with no difference regarding the different echocardiographic findings. [Formula presented]