Cardio COVID-19 News
Interconnection of Obesity, Metabolic Health and COVID-19
2021 25 Jan
According to new findings, obesity and cardiometabolic diseases not only trigger a more severe course of COVID-19, but the infection itself could promote the development of these conditions. In a new article, authors from the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) highlight the interconnection of obesity and impaired metabolic health with the... Read more
Keep that Stethoscope!
2021 20 Jan
The COVID-19 outbreak has made it necessary for doctors to ensure the safety of staff during airway management of patients. However, recently a paper was published that suggested less use of the stethoscope and more ultrasound. This viewpoint could mislead doctors to abandon their stethoscopes for several reasons. First, many doctors were infected... Read more
COVID-19 and Higher Mortality in Acute Heart Failure Patients
2021 20 Jan
Patients with acute heart failure nearly double their risk of dying if they get COVID-19, according to new research published in ESC Heart Failure . These findings highlight the need for patients with heart failure to take extra precautions to avoid catching COVID-19. According to lead investigator, Dr. Amardeep Dastidar, a consultant interventional... Read more
COVID-19: Do No Harm or Do Maximal Good?
2020 12 Oct
The "Do no harm" rule is encoded in the Hippocratic oath taken by physicians when they graduate. But this rule has taken on a whole different meaning during the COVID-19 pandemic. During these times, the maximisation principle has proven to be the foundation of healthcare decisions, where actions are taken based on benefits to the greatest number of people.... Read more
Influenza Vaccination to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk in COVID-19 Patients
2020 12 Oct
According to a state-of-the-art review published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, seasonal influenza vaccine development and the findings of three international influenza cardiovascular outcomes trials that are currently underway could provide more information regarding the development and effectiveness of vaccine strategies for... Read more
World Heart Day 2020 - Use Heart to Beat Cardiovascular Disease
2020 28 Sep
On World Heart Day this year (29 September), the World Heart Federation (WHF) cautions heart patients to be aware of COVID-19 and its impact on the heart. According to the WHF, COVID-19 is creating a perfect storm for heart health. Three factors are contributing to this: 1. People with COVID-19 and heart disease are at the highest risk of death... Read more
COVID-19 Induced Heart Damage May Improve With Time
2020 18 Sep
Some patients infected with COVID-19 suffer from lung and heart damage. Some of these patients require admission to the ICU with support from mechanical ventilation and the use of inotropic medications. Even after discharge, some of these patients remain symptomatic. However, findings from a new study show that even though some patients with COVID... Read more
COVID-19 and Increase in OHCA
2020 18 Sep
COVID-19 has a wide range of presentations including asymptomatic to various intensity of symptomatic patients, some of whom develop acute respiratory distress syndrome and require mechanical ventilation. COVID-19 first hit in December 2019 in China. Outside of China, Northern Italy was also sufficiently impacted by it, leading to a high number of... Read more
#ESCCongress: BRACE CORONA Trial and Safety of Heart Drugs
2020 01 Sep
Heart patients hospitalised with COVID-19 can safely continue taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), according to the BRACE CORONA trial presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2020. ACE inhibitors and ARBs are commonly taken by heart patients to reduce blood pressure and to... Read more
Ageing Heart Cells Increase Susceptibility of Older Patients to Severe COVID-19
2020 20 Aug
Genes that play an important role in allowing SARS-CoV-2 to invade heart cells become more active with age, according to research published today in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology . The findings could help explain why age is major risk factor for dying from COVID-19, with people over 70 years at greatest risk, and why the disease... Read more
The Cardiac Risk of Fearing COVID-19
2020 30 Jul
Coronavirus disease has caused havoc around the world. There are more than 300 clinical trials underway for this illness, but so far, no specific therapies have demonstrated the ability to decrease mortality. Since there is no therapeutic cure for COVID-19, authorities across the globe have implemented aggressive mitigation strategies to stop the spread... Read more
Sharp Decline in Heart Transplants During COVID-19
2020 30 Jul
The number of heart transplants in the United States declined sharply during the beginning of the pandemic, even in areas of the country with few COVID-19 cases at the time, according to an analysis by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The study found that the number of heart transplants performed nationwide dropped 26%... Read more
Lopinavir, Ritonavir Cause Bradycardia in Older COVID-19 Patients
2020 20 Jul
Older, critically ill patients with COVID-19 who received a combination of the antiretroviral medications lopinavir and ritonavir experienced bradycardia, a slow heart rate, more often, according to new research published in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, an American Heart Association journal. The combination of antiretroviral... Read more
Strokes Associated With COVID-19 More Severe
2020 20 Jul
According to new research published in Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, acute ischaemic strokes (AIS) associated with COVID-19 are more severe, lead to worse functional outcomes and are associated with higher mortality. In “ Characteristics and Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19 and Acute Ischemic Stroke: The Global COVID-19... Read more
The Cardiovascular Legacy of COVID-19
2020 09 Jul
As the world continues to struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic, an area of concern is the increasing burden of cardiovascular disease. CVD was already an area of concern before the coronavirus outbreak since it is the leading cause of death in the world. However, the pandemic has made the outlook for CVD even more gloomy. Approximately 60... Read more
COVID-19 and New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation
2020 09 Jul
During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, all non-critical appointments in hospitals have been postponed, and GPs and private specialists are only seeing patients with the most urgent needs. The priority for most healthcare facilities has been managing and treating COVID-19 patients. However, while this is going on, there are reports of reduced volumes... Read more
COVID-19 and Incidence of Cardiac Arrhythmias
2020 25 Jun
In the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was observed that patients with SARS-CoV-2 seem to have a higher rate of cardiac arrhythmias. Hospitals from China reported this to be 17% in hospitalised patients and as high as 44% in those placed in intensive care units. Similar reports were shared from Italy and New York as well. To study this... Read more
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests and Resuscitations During COVID-19
2020 25 Jun
New York City saw a three-fold increase in the number of cardiac arrests from March to April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic than during the same period in 2019. The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics and outcomes of people who experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrests during the pandemic in New York City and whether... Read more
Testing and COVID-19
2020 25 Jun
The world is now in the grips of a historic pandemic. The death toll from the novel coronavirus has climbed to more than 117,000 in the United States and 448,000 around the world. Total cases of the disease, called COVID-19, have soared past 2 million in the US and 8.3 million globally. Debates are now raging about whether US states have begun to move... Read more
Characteristics and Outcomes of Heart Transplant Recipients with COVID-19
2020 13 Jun
A study was conducted to understand the effect of COVID-19 on patients who have received heart transplants and their treatment outcomes in the context of their immunosuppressed state. The primary outcome was to assess vital status, and the secondary outcome was to assess other characteristics such as lab values, state of immunosuppression, and treatment outcomes.... Read more