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Subject Area

Cardiology

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the impact of active COVID-19 infection on left ventricular mechanics using 2D speckle tracking echocardiography.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-cov-2). There are many cardiovascular complications associated with COVID-19, including myocardial injury, myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, dysrhythmias, and venous thromboembolic events. 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) can diagnose subclinical myocardial dysfunction earlier than conventional echocardiography.

Methods: 50 admitted patients with positive PCR for COVID-19 infection in Agouza specialized hospital ICU were enrolled in this observational (cross-sectional) study. Included patients were subjected to full clinical and cardiovascular examination, laboratory investigations to assess COVID-19 severity, nasal swab for COVID-19, CT chest, 12 lead electrocardiogram, complete conventional transthoracic echocardiographic study & 2D speckle tracking analysis of LV strain. Patients were divided according to CT chest findings into 3 groups: A, B and C corresponding to (moderate, moderate to severe and severe chest affection).

Results: Our study revealed that Left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) was significantly worse in group C with mean value of (-15.56) in contrast to values of (-21.83 and -18.21 respectively) in group A (P=0.005) and B (P=0.005). We found that hypertension and diabetes mellitus are statistically significant predictors of abnormal GLS in COVID-19 patients.

Conclusion: Left ventricular function of patients with COVID-19 is affected by disease severity with more affection in the severe group measured by LV longitudinal strain.

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