果冻影院

In the research, published in the European Heart Journal, 148 patients from six acute hospitals, who all had increased troponin levels - indicating a possible problem with the heart - were followed up at least one month after discharge.

Using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, it was revealed 80 patients (54%) had some degree of myocardial injury, including inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), scarring or death of heart tissue (infarction), restricted blood supply to the heart (ischaemia) and combinations of all three.

To date this study, carried out with researchers at Imperial College London, is the largest of its kind to investigate convalescing COVID-19 patients who had raised troponin levels.

Troponin is released into the blood when the heart muscle is injured. Raised levels can occur when an artery becomes blocked or there is inflammation of the heart. Many patients who are hospitalised with COVID-19 have raised troponin levels during the critical illness phase, when the body mounts an exaggerated immune response to the infection. In general 10-40%* of hospitalised COVID-19 patients have raised troponin levels.

Lead researcher, Professor Marianna Fontana, professor of cardiology at 果冻影院鈥檚 Division of Medicine, said: 鈥淩aised troponin levels are associated with worse outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Patients with severe COVID-19 disease often have pre-existing heart-related health problems including diabetes, raised blood pressure and obesity.

鈥淒uring severe COVID-19 infection, however, the heart may also be directly affected. Unpicking how the heart can become damaged is difficult, but MRI scans of the heart can identify different patterns of injury, which may enable us to make more accurate diagnoses and to target treatments more effectively.鈥�

The researchers investigated COVID-19 patients discharged up until June 2020 from six hospitals across three NHS London trusts: the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and 果冻影院 Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Patients who had abnormal troponin levels were offered an MRI scan of the heart after discharge and were compared with those from a control group of patients who had not had COVID-19, as well as from 40 healthy volunteers.

Professor Fontana said: 鈥淭he recovering COVID-19 patients had been very ill; all required hospitalisation and all had troponin elevation, with around one in three having been on a ventilator in the intensive care unit.

鈥淲e found evidence of high rates of heart muscle injury that could be seen on the scans a month or two after discharge. Whilst some of this may have been pre-existing, MRI scanning shows that some were new, and likely caused by COVID-19. The pattern of damage to the heart was variable, suggesting that the heart is at risk of different types of injury. Importantly, we detected only a small amount of ongoing injury and the heart鈥檚 pumping function was not impaired in the vast majority of cases. In a small proportion of the most severe cases, there are concerns that this injury may increase the risks of heart failure in the future, but more work is needed to investigate this further.鈥�

The function of the heart鈥檚 left ventricle, the chamber that is responsible for pumping oxygenated blood to all parts of the body, was normal in 89% of the 148 patients but scarring or injury to the heart muscle was present in 80 patients (54%). The pattern of tissue scarring or injury originated from inflammation in 39 patients (26%), ischaemic heart disease, which includes infarction or ischaemia, in 32 patients (22%), or both in nine patients (6%). Twelve patients (8%) appeared to have ongoing heart inflammation.

Professor Fontana said: 鈥淚njury relating to inflammation and scarring of the heart is common in COVID-19 patients with troponin elevation discharged from hospital, but is of limited extent and has little consequence for the heart鈥檚 function.

鈥淭hese findings give us two opportunities: firstly, to find ways of preventing the injury in the first place, and from some of the patterns we have seen, blood clotting may be playing a role, for which we have potential treatments. Secondly, detecting the consequences of injury during convalescence may identify subjects who would benefit from specific supporting drug treatments to protect heart function over time.鈥澨�

The findings of the study are limited by the nature of patient selection and included only those who survived coronavirus infection requiring hospital admission.

鈥淭he convalescent patients in this study had severe COVID-19 disease and our results say nothing about what happens to people who are not hospitalised with COVID, or those who are hospitalised but without elevated troponin. The findings indicate potential ways to identify patients at higher or lower risk and suggest potential strategies that may improve outcomes. More work is needed, and MRI scans of the heart have shown how useful it is in investigating patients with troponin elevation,鈥� concluded Professor Fontana.

听* In this study, across the six hospitals the researchers worked with, 43% of hospitalised COVID-19 patients presented with raised troponin. Researchers studied just some of those patients with raised troponin (148), as described.

Links

• Research paper published in the European Heart Journal
• 果冻影院 Division of Medicine

Image

• MRI highlighting myocardial injury in COVID-19 patient, showing both myocarditis and myocardial infarction.听

Media contact听

Henry Killworth

Tel: +44 (0) 7881 833274

E: h.killworth [at] ucl.ac.uk