Heart scans of Covid-19 patients show range of abnormalities

[Northerner]

Heart scans of coronavirus patients in hospital have revealed a range of abnormalities that can disrupt the ability to pump blood and in severe cases lead to a life-threatening failure in the organ.

Doctors at Edinburgh University examined ultrasound scans known as echocardiograms from more than 1,200 patients in 69 countries and found heart problems in 55%, with one in seven exhibiting signs of “severe abnormalities”.

The scans found damage to the ventricles – the two main chambers of the heart – in more than a third of the patients, while 3% had experienced heart attacks and a further 3% had inflamed heart tissue. The majority had no known heart disease before the scans were done.

Heart scans of Covid-19 patients show range of abnormalities

Edinburgh University team find heart damage in 55% of ultrasounds from 69 countries

www.theguardian.com

Not just a touch of the 'flu, then

 

[Ralph-YK]

“The proportion with an abnormal scan was really high,” said Dr Anda Bularga, a researcher at Edinburgh who worked on the study. “Half of them had an abnormal scan, which makes us think this could be because of the viral infection.”

Doctors give patients echocardiograms only when they suspect there is a problem with the heart, so the high number of abnormalities is not unexpected. How common heart damage is in Covid-19 patients more generally is unclear.

I've already got damage & stuff going on with my heart, so this is bothersom. There is a possibility a lot of these had heart problems seperately to having C19. The C19 just brought them to HCP attention.

 

[mikeyB]

It's actually very rare for a virus to cause endocarditis, which is what this is. It's usually caused by bacteria, particularly streptococci, so my guess would be that secondary infection on top of the virus effects has caused this.The pneumovax injection that some of us get is a vaccine aimed at streptococci.

If all they have been doing is finding about the results of scans, they have no way of knowing if this is directly caused by the virus.

And as @Ralph-YK suggests, it is far commoner in people who already have cardiac abnormalities.

 

[Northerner]

endocarditis

Is that the same as myocarditis? They finally decided that this is what I had, after thinking for ages I had had a heart attack at my diagnosis. I was told my abnormal ECG and elevated troponin levels were probably due to the virus I caught that then triggered DKA when my failing panxcreas became overwhelmed

 

[Ralph-YK]

I was told my abnormal ECG and elevated troponin levels

I wasn't told it's name, that's possibly the thing that was elivated several times I've visited hospital. They often did too test a couple of hours apart to see if it was going up.

I had a silent heart attach. No idea when. Consultant said it could be any time in the last 30 odd years.

 

[Amity Island]

It's actually very rare for a virus to cause endocarditis, which is what this is. It's usually caused by bacteria, particularly streptococci, so my guess would be that secondary infection on top of the virus effects has caused this.The pneumovax injection that some of us get is a vaccine aimed at streptococci.

If all they have been doing is finding about the results of scans, they have no way of knowing if this is directly caused by the virus.

And as @Ralph-YK suggests, it is far commoner in people who already have cardiac abnormalities.

I'm seeing an awful lot of these types of "news" stories. Trying to make and infer/insinuate a direct connection between covid19 and any other ailment. Starting at the very beginning of the outbreak with deaths of patients who have died from any number of diseases being attributed to testing positive with covid19 at the time of death.

Died from a broken leg in a car crash, tested positive for covid19 "must of been covid19"
Fell off a scaffold and ruptured spleen, tested positive for covid19 "must of been covid19"
Had several heart attacks and long term health problems and died, tested positive for covid19 "must of been covid19".

I'm starting to question the motivation behind all these news stories. If it's fear, then they are doing a cracking job!

 

[Northerner]

I'm seeing an awful lot of these types of "news" stories. Trying to make and infer/insinuate a direct connection between covid19 and any other ailment. Starting at the very beginning of the outbreak with deaths of patients who have died from any number of diseases being attributed to testing positive with covid19 at the time of death.

Died from a broken leg in a car crash, tested positive for covid19 "must of been covid19"
Fell off a scaffold and ruptured spleen, tested positive for covid19 "must of been covid19"
Had several heart attacks and long term health problems and died, tested positive for covid19 "must of been covid19".

I'm starting to question the motivation behind all these news stories. If it's fear, then they are doing a cracking job!

I think there are valid concerns, certainly from a clinical point of view. As the article says, as they are learning about possible effects of the virus this can inform the kind of treatments they give to patients. It's clearly not just a 'flu' or a bad cold. I think the ME/CFS symptoms, blood clots, longterm lung injury, and kidney failure are now fairly certain in some patients It's a serious disease, certainly for some - who, we don't know - but some people are simply not treating it seriously

 

[mikeyB]

The same argument applies to measles and mumps. In 1980, before the vaccine was ubiquitous, more than 2 million people worldwide died from measles. That makes it far more deadly than coronavirus, for which we have no vaccine. The anti-vaccine lobby has reduced the annual world death rate to a rather unnecessary 140,000.

Mumps, as with measles, can cause encephalitis, which can lead to death or permanent disability. Mumps can lead to orchitis and male sterility, women can get a similar inflammation of the ovaries. Both measles and mumps can cause sensorineural deafness.

Yet some people don't treat these preventable illnesses seriously. Stupidity, I fear, will always be with us.