ABSTRACT
Background: Patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) present with various clinical presentations with majority of them developing pulmonary complications. This study focuses on cardiac implications of COVID-19 which are less discussed and thus will help to address cardiac implications of COVID-19. Methods: PubMed, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar were screened for articles which mentioned cardiac implications of COVID-19. NHLBI Study Quality Assessment Tools for the observational cohort and cross-sectional studies was used for assessing the risk of bias of our studies. Results: All 14 studies selected were good and had score of ≥9 by NHLBI Study Quality Assessment Tools. Cardiac complications of COVID-19 are common. They are associated with significant mortality. Also, people infected with COVID-19 with premorbid conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus have poor prognosis as compared to those without premorbid conditions. Cardiac biomarkers such as highly sensitive troponin I, creatinine, and creatinine kinase-MB on admission are good prognostic markers. Conclusions: Cardiac complications such as heart failure, myocardial injury, and arrhythmias are common among patients infected with COVID-19. Elevated cardiac markers and patients with cardiac complications require utmost care and continuous cardiac monitoring.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) syndrome is defined as the persistence of symptoms after viral clearance and the emergence of new symptoms after a few months following recovery from COVID-19. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of post-COVID-19 syndrome and the risk factors that contribute to its development. METHODS: This study was conducted prospectively in Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), located in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. The patients were followed up for three months. RESULTS: The post-COVID status of 300 patients admitted to the COVID emergency of TUTH was studied. The mean age of the patients was 46.6±15.7 years, and the proportion of male (56%) was slightly higher than female (44%). Most of the patients (81.7%) had fever on their presentation to the emergency which was followed by fatigue (81.3%) and cough (78.3%). During the post-COVID phase, fatigue was the most common persistent symptom, with 34% experiencing fatigue after 60 days and 28.3% even after 90 days from the onset of symptoms. Univariate logistic regression showed sore throat (OR 4.6; 95% CI (2.8-7.6)), rhinitis (OR 3.6; 95% CI (2.1-5.9)), fatigue (OR 3.7; 95% CI (1.8-7.6)), diarrhea (OR 4.1; 95% CI (2.4-6.9)), anosmia (OR 6.7; 95% CI (3.9-11.3)), ageusia (OR 7.8; 95% CI (4.5-13.4)) and shortness of breath (OR 14.9; 95% CI (1.8-119.6)) at admission were all predictors of post-COVID syndrome after three months. CONCLUSION: Even after recovering from COVID-19, people with COVID-19 may develop symptoms. As a result, COVID-19's long-term consequences should not be neglected, as they may lead to increased morbidity among patients, consumption of financial resources, and added burden on the health system.