Interleukin-6 is upregulated and may be associated with myocardial injury in some patients who have recovered from COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) causes myocardial injury by inducing a cytokine storm in severe cases. Studies have reported that myocardial injury persists for a prolonged period during COVID-19 recovery, and cardiac troponin is a useful indicator of myocardial injury. The interleukin-6 (IL-6) level is known to be associated with the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19, but this association has not been studied during recovery. The current study examined the association between IL-6 levels and myocardial damage during COVID-19 recovery. Four of 209 patients (1.9%) who recovered from COVID-19 had elevated IL-6 levels. All 4 patients tested positive for high-sensitivity troponin T, and 3 patients had subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction according to echocardiography. Positivity for IL-6 during COVID-19 recovery suggests ongoing myocardial damage due to inflammation.

Comparison of the clinical characteristics and outcomes of Japanese patients with COVID-19 treated in primary, secondary, and tertiary care facilities.

AIM: To compare the characteristics and clinical course of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) according to the healthcare level of the admitted hospital, to provide an insight into determining the appropriate level of care for each patient. METHODS: This retrospective, observational study utilized data from the COVID-19 Registry Japan (COVIREGI-JP), the largest Japanese registry of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Datasets were obtained from reports filed as of May 31, 2022. RESULTS: A total of 59,707 patients (2004 in the primary care group, 41,420 in the secondary care group, and 16,283 in the tertiary care group) from 585 facilities were included in the analysis. Patients with established risk factors for severe disease, such as old age and the presence of comorbidities, were treated at higher care facilities and had poorer initial conditions and in-hospital clinical course, as well as higher mortality. Analysis of the fatality rates for each complication suggested that patients with complications requiring procedures (e.g. pleural effusions, myocardial ischemia, and arrhythmia) may have better survival rates in facilities with specialist availability. The number of deaths and severe COVID-19 cases in this study were notably less than those reported overseas. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that more difficult COVID-19 cases with poor outcomes were treated at higher care level facilities in Japan. Attending to possible complications may be useful for selecting an appropriate treatment hospital. Healthcare providers need to maintain a broad perspective on the distribution of medical resources.

Acute myocardial infarction immediately after second vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019.

We present a serious and rare case of acute myocardial infarction soon after the administration of second vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019. Patient's culprit lesion in the right coronary artery was identified and appropriately treated using intravascular imaging. Postvaccination monitoring of patients who are at high risk of cardiovascular diseases is critical. Rare but severe cases of acute myocardial infarction following vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019 have been reported. Physicians should consider this rare side effect as a possible differential diagnosis and appropriately manage such patients.

Acute myocardial infarction immediately after second vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019

We present a serious and rare case of acute myocardial infarction soon after the administration of second vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019. Patient's culprit lesion in the right coronary artery was identified and appropriately treated using intravascular imaging. Postvaccination monitoring of patients who are at high risk of cardiovascular diseases is critical. Rare but severe cases of acute myocardial infarction following vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019 have been reported. Physicians should consider this rare side effect as a possible differential diagnosis and appropriately manage such patients. The patient had total occlusion in the right coronary artery by urgent catheter examination and unstable lesions by intravascular imaging.

Cardiovascular considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic: A focused review for practice in Japan.

The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to have drastic consequences for patients, healthcare workers, and the health system. Its cardiovascular implications have been well described in previous studies, but original reports from Japan are sparse. Validating overseas findings in the Japanese clinical settings is crucial to improve local COVID-19 care and to clarify the pandemic's impacts in the country. This review of available literature demonstrates that in Japanese patients and clinical settings too, there is a close relationship between COVID-19 and the cardiovascular system including cardiovascular complications. On the contrary, secondary effects on cardiovascular practice including service disruptions, telemedicine, and epidemiological changes in Japan have been relatively small.

Cardiovascular Complications of Hospitalized Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 in a Japanese Registry in 2020.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular complications of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are critical for prognosis but have not been elucidated in Japan.Methods and Results:The COVID-19 Registry Japan, which included data from 19,853 individuals at the end of 2020, was analyzed. The incidences of cardiovascular complications were 0.098% for myocarditis/pericarditis/cardiomyopathy, 0.48% for ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation, 0.17% for myocardial ischemia, 0.062% for endocarditis, 0.59% for deep vein thrombosis, 0.19% for pulmonary embolism, and 0.37% for cerebral infarction/hemorrhage. Excluding endocarditis, all complications were associated with increased in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiovascular complications of COVID-19 were infrequent in Japan but were associated with poor prognosis.

Cardiovascular implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly emerged as one of the biggest public health concerns of the 21st century. Although it was initially reported as a cluster of pneumonia cases, it quickly became apparent that COVID-19 is not merely a respiratory tract infection. Its clinical course is often complicated by cardiovascular manifestations including venous and arterial thrombosis, electrical disturbances, and myocardial damage. In addition, the cardiovascular system is involved not only during infection but also preceding the contraction of the virus; having cardiovascular comorbidities indicates significant vulnerability to the pathogen. As longer-term data continue to accumulate, we now have concerns over its lasting cardiovascular effects after recovery. Moreover, there have been substantial collateral effects on the epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases. Reports of adverse cardiovascular events from vaccination have emerged as new hurdles to our efforts to bring an end to the pandemic. As such, the association between COVID-19 and the cardiovascular system and cardiovascular practice in general is expansive. In this review, we provide an overview of the knowledge and considerations in this field, based on the evidence available at the time of this writing.

Evaluation of High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T Levels in Japanese Patients Recently Recovered From Coronavirus Disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported elevated troponin levels in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, so we investigated myocardial damage by measuring high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) levels and analyzed the relationship with comorbidities.Methods and Results:Of 209 patients who recently recovered from COVID-19, 65% had an elevated hsTnT level that was higher than levels in patients with acute phase infection despite most patients (79%) having a mild illness. The hsTnT levels correlated with disease severity, sex, comorbidities, and ACEi and ARB use. CONCLUSIONS: Myocardial damage occurs in the recovery phase of COVID-19, and its evaluation, regardless of patient age, should be considered.

Elevated high-sensitivity troponin is associated with subclinical cardiac dysfunction in patients recovered from coronavirus disease 2019.

The aim of this study is to investigate myocardial damage in recovering coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with high-sensitivity troponin levels (hsTnT) and echocardiography. In this single-center cohort study, 215 COVID-19 recovered patients were recruited from all over Japan between April and September 2020. Demographic characteristics, hsTnT levels, and echocardiography data were collected for 209 patients, after excluding those without serum samples or good-quality echocardiographic images. The mean (± standard deviation) age was 44 (± 12) years (range: 36-55 years), and 50.7% of the patients were males. The median time interval (interquartile range) from COVID-19 onset to post-recovery examination was 56 days (34-96 days). Seventy-four recovered patients (35.4%) had hsTnT less than detection sensitivity (< 3 pg/mL) and 135 recovered patients (64.6%) had hsTnT ≥ 3 pg/mL. Ejection fraction was more than 50% in all cases. Left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) and right ventricular free-wall longitudinal strain (RVFWLS) were reduced in 62 (29.7%) and 8 patients (3.8%), respectively. They were significantly associated with elevated hsTnT levels. In cases with hsTnT above 5 pg/mL, the LVGLS was greatly reduced to 19.0 ± 2.2% (p < 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that elevated hsTnT level was an independent predictor of reduced LVGLS (standardized ß = -0.34; p < 0.001). In recovered COVID-19 patients, even a slight increase in hsTnT above detection sensitivity was associated with decreased LVGLS. hsTnT and echocardiography may be useful tools to detect myocardial injury in recovered COVID-19 patients.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidence and characteristics of pulmonary embolism.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected presentations of conditions unrelated to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection itself. We investigated the pandemic's effect on incidence and characteristics of pulmonary embolism (PE) cases without the infection. We retrospectively compared non-COVID PE patients during January 16-August 31, 2020 (COVID period) with PE patients during the same period in 2017-2019 (Pre-COVID period). The number of out-of-hospital onset cases was significantly higher during the pandemic than during each of the pre-COVID years. Also, the patients in the COVID period were older, more likely to be free of thrombotic predispositions, had higher mortality risks of PE, and were more likely to arrive at the hospital on emergency transport. Sedentary lifestyles during the pandemic seem to have had considerable effects on presentations of PE.

Association of plain computed tomography-determined pulmonary artery-to-aorta ratio with clinical severity of coronavirus disease 2019.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is associated with pulmonary hypertension due to pulmonary embolism, which affects subsequent outcomes. However, definitive diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension is difficult because of the risk of spreading the infection. Here, we assess the utility of plane computed tomography in noninvasively predicting the clinical severity of COVID-19.