Echocardiographic Evaluation of Cardiac Involvement in Patients with COVID-19

Cardiac involvement in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is closely associated with morbidity and mortality. Patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease and/or cardiovascular involvement have poor prognoses. This prospective study aimed to identify patients requiring cardiac function evaluation using echocardiography. Data from 243 patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis between June and November 2021 were analyzed. The demographic and clinical characteristics of all participants were recorded, and echocardiographic examinations were performed. The patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of abnormalities on echocardiography. Echocardiographic findings were normal in 133 (54.7%) patients and abnormal in 110 (45.3%) patients. Abnormal findings were significantly more common than normal findings in patients requiring intensive care and patients with elevated cardiac biomarker (troponin I and/or brain natriuretic peptide) levels (p < 0.001, in both). Conversely, normal findings were significantly more common than abnormal findings in patients requiring isolated wards and the indication of suspected left and/or right ventricular failure (p < 0.001, in both). The results suggest that high cardiac biomarkers and requiring intensive care may facilitate the selection of patients who can benefit from echocardiographic imaging, which is important given the increased risk of viral transmission when performing echocardiography.