ABSTRACT
Objective: To detect residual RV dysfunction on a right ventricle focused Transthoracic Echocardiography (TTE) in COVID-19 infection survivors with lung involvement. Study Design: Analytical cross-sectional study design. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital Abbottabad Pakistan, from Feb 2022 to Apr 2022. Methodology: A total of 87 patients who had suffered from and survived COVID-19 infection with definite involvement on CT scans of the chest were studied after discharge. Echocardiography was done to determine the RV anatomical and functional para-meters to determine the relationship between extent of lung involvement and transthoracic echocardiographic parameters. Data was entered in Microsoft excel and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Results: The initial sample size was of 87 patients. Due to suboptimal ECHO studies 7 cases were excluded. Males represented 62.5% (n=50) and females 37.5% (n=30). The ages ranged from 27 to 80 years, mean 53.08±12.77 years. Based on the CT severity score severe infections were 61.3 %(n=49) and mild 38.8% (n=31). The CTSS ranged from 6 to 30 with a mean of (17.74±7.13). In our study we found that on TTE, there was a statistically significant difference in 2 of the anatomical parameters;RVOT PLAX (RVOT diameter in Parasternal long axis view) [27.4 vs 28.3;p=0.02], RVOT-Dis (Distal RVOT dia) [22.8 vs 24;p=0.01]. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference in all the functional parameters of RV function TDI S vel (Systolic Tissue Doppler Velocity of the Tricuspid Annulus by Tissue doppler imaging) [7 vs4.9;p<0.0001], RIMP-PW (Right Ventricular Index of Myocardial Performance by Pulse wave doppler) [0.46 vs0.38;p<0.0001], RIMP-TDI (Right Ventricular Index of Myocardial Performance by Tissue doppler imaging) [0.57 vs 0.48;p<0.0001]. RV-FAC (RV-Fractional Area Change) was statistically insignificant. [42.8% vs 43.2%;p=0.6]. Conclusion: Our study showed that in patients with definite lung involvement on chest CT scans, functional echocardio-graphic parameters of Right ventricular function were affected in line with the severity of lung involvement. © 2022, Army Medical College. All rights reserved.