Studies find heart damage from COVID-19 months after patients recover

New evidence suggests the coronavirus has lasting impacts on the heart, raising alarm for cardiologists who have been concerned about potential long-term heart injury from COVID-19 (Source: “Heart damage found in coronavirus patients months after recovering from COVID-19, study says,” Columbus Dispatch, July 30, 2020).

Two German studies (found here and here), published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Cardiology, found heart abnormalities in COVID-19 patients months after they had already recovered from the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. The majority of patients didn’t exhibit any symptoms and these specific abnormalities detected by the MRI wouldn’t have been seen on an echocardiogram, which is more commonly used in the standard clinical setting.

Experts say the prevalence of inflammation is an important connection to COVID-19 as the disease has a clinical reputation for a high inflammatory response. Dr. Thomas Maddox, chair of the American College of Cardiology’s Science and Quality Committee, said heart inflammation could lead to the weakening of the heart muscle and, in rare cases, abnormal heartbeats.

On Friday afternoon, the Ohio Department of Health reported 91,159 cases of COVID-19 (an increase of 9,413 since last Friday), 10,790 hospitalizations (an increase of 718 this week) and 3,489 deaths (192 more reported since last Friday).