Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society
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Observational Study
Echocardiographic characteristics of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Myocardial involvement induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection might be important for long-term prognosis. The aim of this observational study was to characterize the myocardial effects during SARS-CoV-2 infections by echocardiography. ⋯ Myocardial involvement due to SARS-CoV-2-infection was highly prevalent in the present cohort-even in patients with mild symptoms. It appears to be characterized by specific speckle tracking deformation abnormalities in the basal LV segments. These data set the stage to prospectively test whether these parameters are helpful for risk stratification and for the long-term follow-up of these patients.
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Coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide pandemic affecting people at high risk and particularly at advanced age, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease. As cardiovascular patients are at high risk but also have dyspnea and fatigue as leading symptoms, prevention, diagnostics and treatment in these patients are important to provide adequate care for those with or without COVID-19 but most importantly when comorbid cardiovascular conditions are present. ⋯ As most of the COVID-19 patients have cardiovascular comorbidities like hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease and heart failure, which imposes a high risk on these patients, cardiovascular therapy should not be modified or even withdrawn. As cardiac injury is a common feature of COVID-19 associated ARDS and is linked with poor outcomes, swift diagnostic management and specialist care of cardiovascular patients in the area of COVID-19 is of particular importance and deserves special attention.
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Comparative Study
Decline of emergency admissions for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events after the outbreak of COVID-19.
The spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the guidance from authorities for social distancing and media reporting lead to significant uncertainty in Germany. Concerns have been expressed regarding the underdiagnosing of harmful diseases. We explored the rates of emergency presentations for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and acute cerebrovascular events (ACVE) before and after spread of SARS-CoV-2. ⋯ The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a significant decrease in all-cause admission and admissions due to cardiovascular events in the emergency department. Regarding acute cerebrovascular events there was a numerical decrease but no significant difference.