Cardiac Involvement in Recovered Patients From COVID-19: A Preliminary 6-Month Follow-Up Study.

Background: Accumulating evidence has revealed that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients may be complicated with myocardial injury during hospitalization. However, data regarding persistent cardiac involvement in patients who recovered from COVID-19 are limited. Our goal is to further explore the sustained impact of COVID-19 during follow-up, focusing on the cardiac involvement in the recovered patients. Methods: In this prospective observational follow-up study, we enrolled a total of 40 COVID-19 patients (20 with and 20 without cardiac injury during hospitalization) who were discharged from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University for more than 6 months, and 27 patients (13 with and 14 without cardiac injury during hospitalization) were finally included in the analysis. Clinical information including self-reported symptoms, medications, laboratory findings, Short Form 36-item scores, 6-min walk test, clinical events, electrocardiogram assessment, echocardiography measurement, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was collected and analyzed. Results: Among 27 patients finally included, none of patients reported any obvious cardiopulmonary symptoms at the 6-month follow-up. There were no statistically significant differences in terms of the quality of life and exercise capacity between the patients with and without cardiac injury. No significant abnormalities were detected in electrocardiogram manifestations in both groups, except for nonspecific ST-T changes, premature beats, sinus tachycardia/bradycardia, PR interval prolongation, and bundle-branch block. All patients showed normal cardiac structure and function, without any statistical differences between patients with and without cardiac injury by echocardiography. Compared with patients without cardiac injury, patients with cardiac injury exhibited a significantly higher positive proportion in late gadolinium enhancement sequences [7/13 (53.8%) vs. 1/14 (7.1%), p = 0.013], accompanied by the elevation of circulating ST2 level [median (interquartile range) = 16.6 (12.1, 22.5) vs. 12.5 (9.5, 16.7); p = 0.044]. Patients with cardiac injury presented higher levels of aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, high-sensitivity troponin I, lactate dehydrogenase, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide than those without cardiac injury, although these indexes were within the normal range for all recovered patients at the 6-month follow-up. Among patients with cardiac injury, patients with positive late gadolinium enhancement presented higher cardiac biomarker (high-sensitivity troponin I) and inflammatory factor (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) on admission than the late gadolinium enhancement-negative subgroup. Conclusions: Our preliminary 6-month follow-up study with a limited number of patients revealed persistent cardiac involvement in 29.6% (8/27) of recovered patients from COVID-19 after discharge. Patients with cardiac injury during hospitalization were more prone to develop cardiac fibrosis during their recovery. Among patients with cardiac injury, those with relatively higher cardiac biomarkers and inflammatory factors on admission appeared more likely to have cardiac involvement in the convalescence phase.

Healthy neonate born to a SARS-CoV-2 infected woman: A case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a newly discovered coronavirus that has generated a worldwide outbreak of infections. Many people with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) have developed severe illness, and a significant number have died. However, little is known regarding infection by the novel virus in pregnant women. We herein present a case of COVID-19 confirmed in a woman delivering a neonate who was negative for SARS-CoV-2 and related it to a review of the literature on pregnant women and human coronavirus infections. CASE SUMMARY: The patient was a 36-year-old pregnant woman in her third trimester who had developed progressive clinical symptoms when she was confirmed as infected with SARS-CoV-2. Given the potential risks for both the pregnant woman and the fetus, an emergency cesarean section was performed, and the baby and his mother were separately quarantined and cared for. As a result, the baby currently shows no signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection (his lower respiratory tract samples were negative for the virus), while the mother completely recovered from COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Although we presented a single case, the successful result is of great significance for pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection and with respect to fully understanding novel coronavirus pneumonia.

Association of Statin Use With the In-Hospital Outcomes of 2019-Coronavirus Disease Patients: A Retrospective Study.

Background: Statins have multiple protective effects on inflammation, immunity and coagulation, and may help alleviate pneumonia. However, there was no report focusing on the association of statin use with in-hospital outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We investigated the association between the use of statins and in-hospital outcomes of patients with COVID-19. Methods: In this retrospective case series, consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted at 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from March 12, 2020 to April 14, 2020 were analyzed. A 1:1 matched cohort was created by propensity score-matched analysis. Demographic data, laboratory findings, comorbidities, treatments and in-hospital outcomes were collected and compared between COVID-19 patients taking and not taking statins. Result: A total of 2,147 patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in this study. Of which, 250 patients were on statin therapy. The mortality was 2.4% (6/250) for patients taking statins while 3.7% (70/1,897) for those not taking statins. In the multivariate Cox model, after adjusting for age, gender, admitted hospital, comorbidities, in-hospital medications and blood lipids, the risk was lower for mortality (adjusted HR, 0.428; 95% CI, 0.169-0.907; P = 0.029), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (adjusted HR, 0.371; 95% CI, 0.180-0.772; P = 0.008) or intensive care unit (ICU) care (adjusted HR, 0.319; 95% CI, 0.270-0.945; P = 0.032) in the statin group vs. the non-statin group. After propensity score-matched analysis based on 18 potential confounders, a 1:1 matched cohort (206:206) was created. In the matched cohort, the Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that the use of statins was associated with better survival (P = 0.025). In a Cox regression model, the use of statins was associated with lower risk of mortality (unadjusted HR, 0.254; 95% CI, 0.070-0.926; P = 0.038), development of ARDS (unadjusted HR, 0.240; 95% CI, 0.087-0.657; P = 0.006), and admission of ICU (unadjusted HR, 0.349; 95% CI, 0.150-0.813; P = 0.015). The results remained consistent when being adjusted for age, gender, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, procalcitonin, and brain natriuretic peptide. The favorable outcomes in statin users remained statistically significant in the first sensitivity analysis with comorbid diabetes being excluded in matching and in the second sensitivity analysis with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease being added in matching. Conclusion: In this retrospective analysis, the use of statins in COVID-19 patients was associated with better clinical outcomes and is recommended to be continued in patients with COVID-19.

Metformin Is Associated with Higher Incidence of Acidosis, but Not Mortality, in Individuals with COVID-19 and Pre-existing Type 2 Diabetes.

The safety and efficacy of anti-diabetic drugs are critical for maximizing the beneficial impacts of well-controlled blood glucose on the prognosis of individuals with COVID-19 and pre-existing type 2 diabetes (T2D). Metformin is the most commonly prescribed first-line medication for T2D, but its impact on the outcomes of individuals with COVID-19 and T2D remains to be clarified. Our current retrospective study in a cohort of 1,213 hospitalized individuals with COVID-19 and pre-existing T2D indicated that metformin use was significantly associated with a higher incidence of acidosis, particularly in cases with severe COVID-19, but not with 28-day COVID-19-related mortality. Furthermore, metformin use was significantly associated with reduced heart failure and inflammation. Our findings provide clinical evidence in support of continuing metformin treatment in individuals with COVID-19 and pre-existing T2D, but acidosis and kidney function should be carefully monitored in individuals with severe COVID-19.