The Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 will damage the heart?
According to a recent study from Wuhan, China, people with cardiovascular disease leads to both an increased risk that infection with SARS-CoV-2 to a heavy COVID-19-the course, as well as a significantly higher risk of a fatal outcome.
The largest survey shows of Chinese origin COVID-19-patients, that many of those Affected with high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases are among the severe COVID-19-gradients. The risk of death of those Affected is significantly higher than in Patients without concomitant diseases. The results were recently presented in the prestigious journal “JAMA Cardiology”.
Death rates from circulatory diseases is significantly higher
The Renmin hospital of Wuhan University presented data from 416 COVID-19-Affected, suggesting that the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 represents a special danger for people suffering from hypertension and/or cardiovascular diseases. The data show that 12.8 percent of the Participating sub-arterial hypertension and 4.2% suffered from a heart disease.
The risk of death in those Affected was increased compared with Infected without underlying diseases significantly. While 0.9 percent of otherwise healthy people COVID-died 19, succumbed to Ill six percent of the high blood pressure and 10.5 percent of the heart patients of the Virus.
Note to heart damage caused by SARS-CoV-2
A connection with the increased mortality, the researchers see in the elevated Troponin I (hs-TnI) values. Troponin I is a part of the heart muscle cell. There is damage to the heart muscle, these protein building blocks can enter increasingly into the blood and can be measured.
82 of 416 studied COVID-19-patients in the Troponin I were elevated values at the time of admission to the hospital significantly. The concentration was, on average, at 0.19 µg/l to about 0.006 µg/l for the remaining 334 COVID-19-Concerned. This increase in value represents a Marker for cardiac damage.
Heart disease were the most frequently elevated hs-TnI values
It is striking, the researchers suggest that the high level of hs-TnI values were particularly measured frequently in individuals who suffer from high blood pressure (59.8 per cent in the case of high blood pressure versus 23.4 percent without high blood pressure), Coronary heart disease (29.3 percent with CHD versus 6.0% without CHD) or chronic heart diseases (14.6% versus 1.5 percent).
Other underlying diseases also increased hs-TnI values
Similarly, elevated hs-TnI were found to have values in Patients with Diabetes (24.4% with Diabetes versus 12.0 percent without Diabetes), cancer (8.5 per cent with cancer versus 0.6 percent without cancer), or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (7.3% with COPD versus 1.8% without COPD). Also zerebrovaskuläreb diseases (15.9 percent versus 2.7 percent), and in the case of chronic kidney disease (6.1% versus 2.7%) the levels were increased significantly more.
Cause unclear
The study has observed in this connection only, but couldn’t clarify why this is. It is now in the room, whether the elevated values are a direct consequence of Coronavirus infection, or whether this can be interpreted as a sign of the already critical condition.
Conclusion
The researchers come to the conclusion that heart diseases are a frequent underlying disease in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 – at least in Wuhan. Those Affected have a higher risk of mortality in the hospital. The hs-TnI values could serve as a Marker for the severity of the disease and a deterioration in the forecast view. Of the 82 Affected with elevated hs-TnI 42 (51.2 percent) died in the hospital, while the patients with low hs-TnI only 4.5 percent died (15 of 334). (vb)
Also read: Coronavirus: Important information for high blood pressure patients.