Long-Term Electrocardiogram and Echocardiography Findings of Patients with Severe COVID-19

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a pandemic that can involve the cardiopulmonary system. Long-term cardiac involvement evaluations were less studied in the literatures. In the present study, we aimed to investigate long-term electrocardiographic and echocardiographic findings of patients with severe COVID-19 after a year of follow-up. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study was performed on patients admitted to one of the university hospitals in Tehran, Iran, from the beginning of February 2021 to February 2022. Echocardiography and electrocardiogram were done for all patients at admission and after one year of discharge. Patients' demographics, medical history, echocardiographic, and electrocardiographic information were recorded and analyzed. Results: Sixty patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age of patients was 53.63±12.50 years, and 58.33% were male. After assessing electrocardiography changes and echocardiography results, it was observed that QRS abnormality and inverted T-wave after one year were significantly more than during hospitalization (P<0.05). The pulmonary arterial pressure had increased after one year (24.30±4.79 mmHg to 26.50±7.69 mmHg, p-value=0.026). Conclusion: New cardiac problems in patients with severe COVID-19 disease may appear after one year, and these patients should be evaluated periodically.

Keywords

• covid-19; echocardiography; electrocardiogram; myocardial injury; pulmonary artery pressure