A Systematic Review of COVID-19 Impact on Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract

Background: The world is confronted with the threat of a pandemic driven by a novel coronavirus, namely Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was spread in December 2019 in Wuhan (China). The virus has spread to 216 nations, regions, and territories around the world. There were around 510306 confirmed cases and 333401 deaths by May 2020. Patients with cardiovascular diseases and other co-morbidities were at a high risk of SARS-CoV2 infection that ultimately resulted in the death of the patient. Objective: This review highlights the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular diseases and other co-morbidities. Methods: This review was completed using different sources of search sites like Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, etc. Result: The diseases associated with the cardiovascular system include myocarditis, heart failure, cardiac injury, and microangiopathy. The mechanisms that cause cardiovascular problems in COVID-19 are myocardial injury pathways, systemic inflammation, altered myocardial demand and supply ratios, plaque rupture, coronary thrombosis, adverse effects of various therapies, and electrolyte imbalances. Several studies provide an important clinical and molecular clue to cardiac involvement during COVID-19. The high cytokine concentrations may contribute to myocardial lesions and a poor disease prognosis. In an earlier study, autopsy reports of COVID-19 found the SARS-CoV-2 genome in myocardial tissues. This also demonstrates that cytokine-induced organ dysfunction contributes to the disease process. Conclusion: This review concludes that the impact of coronavirus on the cardiac system has shown a harmful effect, and patients with co-morbidities are likely to be more affected by COVID-19 infection.