[Heart involvement in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children correlated with SARS-CoV-2 infection: a review by ANMCO/SICP]. / Le manifestazioni cardiache nella sindrome multisistemica infiammatoria del bambino correlate all'infezione da SARS-CoV-2: una rassegna a cura di ANMCO/SICP.

Acute clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are generally less severe in childhood, however a proportion of them can develop a severe systemic hyperinflammatory syndrome after SARS-CoV-2 infection, known as the multisystem inflammatory syndrome (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, MIS-C). Cardiovascular manifestations in MIS-C are frequent (34-82%), including myocardial dysfunction, coronary artery dilation or aneurysms, arrhythmias, conduction abnormalities, pericarditis and valvulitis. The most affected cases can develop cardiogenic shock needing intensive care unit admission, inotropic support and sometimes even mechanical circulatory support. The elevation of myocardial necrosis markers, the frequently transient left ventricular systolic dysfunction and the presence of changes on magnetic resonance imaging, support the hypothesis of an immune-mediated post-viral pathogenesis similar to myocarditis. Although MIS-C shows excellent short-term survival, further studies are needed to demonstrate complete reversibility of residual subclinical heart damage.

[Features of echocardiographic examination in patients with COVID-19].

Novel coronavirus infection has become one of urgent health problems of the 21st century. The associated disorders often result in the development of cardiopulmonary pathology, which requires creation of a new paradigm in diagnosis and treatment. Studies performed during the pandemic have demonstrated an important role of echocardiography (EchoCG) in diagnosis of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in patients with respiratory insufficiency in COVID-19. The analysis of EchoCG parameters with a high prognostic value showed that in EchoCG, a special attention should be paid to right heart dimensions, RV contractility, and pulmonary artery (PA) systolic pressure, which are the most sensitive indexes of RV afterload and indirect markers of pulmonary disease severity. RV FAC can be recommended for evaluation of the RV systolic function as the most informative variable. Also, it was demonstrated that the RV longitudinal strain has an additional significance for early identification of signs of systolic dysfunction and risk stratification in patients with COVID-19. In addition to the effectiveness and reproducibility of this method, an important advantage of EchoCG is its availability, possibility of saving images for remote interpretation by other specialists, and tracking changes in morphological and functional parameters of the heart. Thus, the analysis of international literature suggests that EchoCG plays an important role in prediction of severe cardiopulmonary disorders and timely selection of the treatment for patients with COVID-19. For these reasons, EchoCG should serve as an additional method of clinical evaluation, particularly in persons with moderate or severe disease.

Cell-Specific Mechanisms in the Heart of COVID-19 Patients.

From the onset of the pandemic, evidence of cardiac involvement in acute COVID-19 abounded. Cardiac presentations ranged from arrhythmias to ischemia, myopericarditis/myocarditis, ventricular dysfunction to acute heart failure, and even cardiogenic shock. Elevated serum cardiac troponin levels were prevalent among hospitalized patients with COVID-19; the higher the magnitude of troponin elevation, the greater the COVID-19 illness severity and in-hospital death risk. Whether these consequences were due to direct SARS-CoV-2 infection of cardiac cells or secondary to inflammatory responses steered early cardiac autopsy studies. SARS-CoV-2 was reportedly detected in endothelial cells, cardiac myocytes, and within the extracellular space. However, findings were inconsistent and different methodologies had their limitations. Initial autopsy reports suggested that SARS-CoV-2 myocarditis was common, setting off studies to find and phenotype inflammatory infiltrates in the heart. Nonetheless, subsequent studies rarely detected myocarditis. Microthrombi, cardiomyocyte necrosis, and inflammatory infiltrates without cardiomyocyte damage were much more common. In vitro and ex vivo experimental platforms have assessed the cellular tropism of SARS-CoV-2 and elucidated mechanisms of viral entry into and replication within cardiac cells. Data point to pericytes as the primary target of SARS-CoV-2 in the heart. Infection of pericytes can account for the observed pericyte and endothelial cell death, innate immune response, and immunothrombosis commonly observed in COVID-19 hearts. These processes are bidirectional and synergistic, rendering a definitive order of events elusive. Single-cell/nucleus analyses of COVID-19 myocardial tissue and isolated cardiac cells have provided granular data about the cellular composition and cell type-specific transcriptomic signatures of COVID-19 and microthrombi-positive COVID-19 hearts. Still, much remains unknown and more in vivo studies are needed. This review seeks to provide an overview of the current understanding of COVID-19 cardiac pathophysiology. Cell type-specific mechanisms and the studies that provided such insights will be highlighted. Given the unprecedented pace of COVID-19 research, more mechanistic details are sure to emerge since the writing of this review. Importantly, our current knowledge offers significant clues about the cardiac pathophysiology of long COVID-19, the increased postrecovery risk of cardiac events, and thus, the future landscape of cardiovascular disease.

Improving cardiovascular outcomes for patients with heart failure in sub-Saharan Africa: conference proceedings of the 2022 Nigerian Cardiovascular Symposium.

The Nigerian Cardiovascular Symposium is an annual conference held in partnership with cardiologists in Nigeria and the diaspora to provide updates in cardiovascular medicine and cardiothoracic surgery with the aim of optimising cardiovascular care for the Nigerian population. This virtual conference (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) has created an opportunity for effective capacity building of the Nigerian cardiology workforce. The objective of the conference was for experts to provide updates on current trends, clinical trials and innovations in heart failure, selected cardiomyopathies such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and cardiac amyloidosis, pulmonary hypertension, cardiogenic shock, left ventricular assist devices and heart transplantation. Furthermore, the conference aimed to equip the Nigerian cardiovascular workforce with skills and knowledge to optimise the delivery of effective cardiovascular care, with the hope of curbing 'medical tourism' and the current 'brain drain' in Nigeria. Challenges to optimal cardiovascular care in Nigeria include workforce shortage, limited capacity of intensive care units, and availability of medications. This partnership represents a key first step in addressing these challenges. Future action items include enhanced collaboration between cardiologists in Nigeria and the diaspora, advancing participation and enrollment of African patients in global heart failure clinical trials, and the urgent need to develop heart failure clinical practice guidelines for Nigerian patients.

Multimodality Cardiac Imaging in COVID.

Infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, is associated with numerous potential secondary complications. Global efforts have been dedicated to understanding the myriad potential cardiovascular sequelae which may occur during acute infection, convalescence, or recovery. Because patients often present with nonspecific symptoms and laboratory findings, cardiac imaging has emerged as an important tool for the discrimination of pulmonary and cardiovascular complications of this disease. The clinician investigating a potential COVID-related complication must account not only for the relative utility of various cardiac imaging modalities but also for the risk of infectious exposure to staff and other patients. Extraordinary clinical and scholarly efforts have brought the international medical community closer to a consensus on the appropriate indications for diagnostic cardiac imaging during this protracted pandemic. In this review, we summarize the existing literature and reference major societal guidelines to provide an overview of the indications and utility of echocardiography, nuclear imaging, cardiac computed tomography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of cardiovascular complications of COVID.

Acute Lung Injury in aortic dissection : new insights in anesthetic management strategies.

Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is a severe cardiovascular disease characterized by rapid progress and a high mortality rate. The incidence of acute aortic dissection is approximately 5 to 30 per 1 million people worldwide. In clinical practice, about 35% of AAD patients are complicated with acute lung injury (ALI). AAD complicated with ALI can seriously affect patients' prognosis and even increase mortality. However, the pathogenesis of AAD combined with ALI remains largely unknown. Given the public health burden of AAD combined with ALI, we reviewed the anesthetic management advances and highlighted potential areas for clinical practice.

Cardiovascular outcomes of type 2 myocardial infarction among COVID-19 patients: a propensity matched national study.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction Type II (T2MI) is a prevalent cause of troponin elevation secondary to a variety of conditions causing stress/demand mismatch. The impact of T2MI on outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 is not well studied. METHODS: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from the year 2020 was queried to identify COVID-19 patients with T2MI during the index hospitalization. Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes 'U07.1' and 'I21.A1' were used as disease identifiers for COVID-19 and T2MI respectively. Multivariate adjusted Odds ratio (aOR) and propensity score matching (PSM) was done to compare outcomes among COVID patients with and without T2MI. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: A total of 1,678,995 COVID-19-weighted hospitalizations were identified in the year 2020, of which 41,755 (2.48%) patients had T2MI compared to 1,637,165 (97.5%) without T2MI. Patients with T2MI had higher adjusted odds of in-hospital mortality (aOR 1.44, PSM 32.27%, 95% CI 1.34-1.54) sudden cardiac arrest (aOR 1.29, PSM 6.6%, 95% CI 1.17-1.43) and CS (aOR 2.16, PSM 2.73%, 95% CI 1.85-2.53) compared to patients without T2MI. The rate of coronary angiography (CA) in T2MI with COVID was 1.19%, with significant use of CA among patients with T2MI complicated by CS compared to those without CS (4% vs 1.1%, p < 0.001). Additionally, COVID-19 patients with T2MI had an increased prevalence of sepsis compared to COVID-19 without T2MI (48% vs 24.1%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 patients with T2MI had worse cardiovascular outcomes with significantly higher in-hospital mortality, SCA, and CS compared to those without T2MI. Long-term mortality and morbidity among COVID-19 patients who had T2MI will need to be clarified in future studies. [Figure: see text].

Cardiovascular Considerations in the Management of People With Suspected Long COVID.

Approximately 15% of adult Canadians with SARS-CoV-2 infection develop lingering symptoms beyond 12 weeks after acute infection, known as post-COVID condition or long COVID. Some of the commonly reported long COVID cardiovascular symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, and palpitations. Suspected long-term cardiovascular complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection might present as a constellation of symptoms that can be challenging for clinicians to diagnose and treat. When assessing patients with these symptoms, clinicians need to keep in mind myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, postexertional malaise and postexertional symptom exacerbation, dysautonomia with cardiac manifestations such as inappropriate sinus tachycardia, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and occasionally mast cell activation syndrome. In this review we summarize the globally evolving evidence around management of cardiac sequelae of long COVID. In addition, we include a Canadian perspective, consisting of a panel of expert opinions from people with lived experience and experienced clinicians across Canada who have been involved in management of long COVID. The objective of this review is to offer some practical guidance to cardiologists and generalist clinicians regarding diagnostic and treatment approaches for adult patients with suspected long COVID who continue to experience unexplained cardiac symptoms.

Cardiac Arrhythmias in Post-COVID Syndrome: Prevalence, Pathology, Diagnosis, and Treatment.

An increase in post-COVID patients with late sequelae of acute COVID-19 infection is emerging as an ongoing challenge for physicians and healthcare professionals. Since the beginning of the pandemic, it has rapidly become evident that the acute infection is not limited to the respiratory tract but that several organs, including the cardiovascular system, can be affected. Moreover, in a significant proportion of patients (ranging from about 10 to up to 50%) with former COVID-19, cardiopulmonary symptoms such as dyspnea, palpitations, restricted physical capacity, and cardiac arrhythmias can persist weeks and months after the acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. The spectrum of COVID-19-associated arrhythmias is rather wide, most likely due to various pathomechanisms. In this article, the prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias and underlying pathologies are reviewed, including direct myocardial injury and abnormal consequences with an impact on cardiac electric instability. The hyperinflammatory reaction of the host immune system is specifically considered. Moreover, several distinct rhythm disorders occurring in post-COVID patients are discussed with regard to their clinical management.