Cardiovascular system involvement in SARS-CoV-2 infection

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 is an emerging disease with global incidence, which exhibits a greater number of complications in patients with comorbidities, mainly in those with a history of cardiovascular disease. Objective: to describe the implications of COVID-19 in the cardiovascular system. Method: A review of the literature was conducted in the MEDLINE, SciELO, JAMA and Elsevier databases, recovering 35 articles, which were taken as the basis for the present review. The combination of terms using search formulas was used to retrieve articles. Development: COVID-19 can be variable in correspondence with the presentation form and accompanying symptoms, as well as the recipient's immune response. SARS-CoV-2 binds to cells through the viral spike structural protein that binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor from viral receptors; therefore, hypertensive patients or those with other cardiovascular conditions have a higher risk of developing severe forms of COVID-19. Among the cardiovascular diseases associated with infection by a coronavirus, myocarditis, arrhythmias, acute myocardial infarction and heart failure stand out. Conclusions: the main cardiovascular implications in patients with COVID-19 are arrhythmia, thromboembolic disease, myocarditis, heart failure of acute onset and myocardial infarction, which condition a more serious picture of the disease. The inflammatory response, hemodynamic changes secondary to the viral process, as well as hypoxemia, constitute mechanisms of negative impact on cardiovascular health, leading to the development of acute cardiac injury.

Keywords

• coronavirus
• covid-19
• sars-cov-2
• hipertensión
• arritmias
• miocardiopatías