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Usefulness of echocardiography to detect cardiac involvement in COVID‐19 patients
Author(s) -
Cameli Matteo,
Pastore Maria Concetta,
Soliman Aboumarie Hatem,
Mandoli Giulia Elena,
D'Ascenzi Flavio,
Cameli Paolo,
Bigio Elisa,
Franchi Federico,
Mondillo Sergio,
Valente Serafina
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
echocardiography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1540-8175
pISSN - 0742-2822
DOI - 10.1111/echo.14779
Subject(s) - medicine , myocarditis , cardiology , heart failure , covid-19 , intensive care medicine , disease , acute myocarditis , sepsis , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreak is a current global healthcare burden, leading to the life‐threatening severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). However, evidence showed that, even if the prevalence of COVID‐19 damage consists in pulmonary lesions and symptoms, it could also affect other organs, such as heart, liver, and spleen. Particularly, some infected patients refer to the emergency department for cardiovascular symptoms, and around 10% of COVID‐19 victims had finally developed heart injury. Therefore, the use of echocardiography, according to the safety local protocols and ensuring the use of personal protective equipment, could be useful firstly to discriminate between primary cardiac disease or COVID‐19–related myocardial damage, and then for assessing and monitoring COVID‐19 cardiovascular complications: acute myocarditis and arrhythmias, acute heart failure, sepsis‐induced myocardial impairment, and right ventricular failure derived from treatment with high‐pressure mechanical ventilation. The present review aims to enlighten the applications of transthoracic echocardiography for the diagnostic and therapeutic management of myocardial damage in COVID‐19 patients.