Effect Of Covid-19 Infection On Qtc Prolongation

ABSTRACT

Background Objective: What is the association between COVID-19 infection and QTc changes? Coronavirus SARS-COV2 uses angiotensin-converting enzyme receptors 2 (ACE2) on host cells to enter into human cells. These receptors are expressed on the heart cells among other major cells. This is one of the most accepted theories for direct cardiac cell injury of COVID-19disease and associated cardiorespiratory manifestations. COVID-19 infection leads to unstable myocardial cell membranes, by causing hypoxia, myocarditis, myocardial ischemia, and abnormal host immune response. This is the main reason behind Arrhythmia and EKG changes during COVID19 infection. But the specific effect on QTc has not been studied well so far, so our research try to study this connection. Method(s) This is an observational retrospective hospital chart review involving 320 adult participants diagnosed with COVID-19 infection at our facility. After applying the exclusion criteria, 130 participants remained, who were distributed into two groups. One group with long QTc and one group with normal QTc. Data was collected and demographics were recorded using Excel and SPSS, then compared using a student's t-test for independent groups. The quantitative data are summarized by the mean and standard deviation (SD). Statistical significance was taken as P <0.05. Result(s) A total of 63 participants (48.4% of total 130 participants) met the criteria for long QTc, and a total of 67 participants(51.5%) had normal QTc (P < 0.001). There was no statistically significant mortality outcome (0.8% vs. 3.8%, P = 0.21). Conclusion(s) Our study showed 48.4% participants having an increase in QTc during COVID-19 infection, (20% of 320 total admissions). This observation is very important to help healthcare providers to gaina better understanding of this disease.