Effect of COVID-19 on the Organs

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic that first became apparent in Wuhan, China, is now infecting millions all over the world. This is a review of COVID-19's extensive effects on virtually all the organs. It causes inflammation, endotheliitis, vasoconstriction, hypercoagulability, and edema. Lymphocytopenia, elevated D-dimer, elevated fibrin degradation products (FDPs), and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) are observed. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), venous thromboembolism, pulmonary embolism (PE), systemic and pulmonary arterial thrombosis and embolism, ischemic stroke, and myocardial infarction (MI) are reported. In the heart it can cause acute coronary syndrome, congestive heart failure, myocarditis, and arrhythmias. Kidney injury is usually secondary to systemic abnormalities. Stroke occurs even in young patients. Delirium and seizures are common. Anosmia and impaired sense of taste are reported. Psychological problems are common among patients as well as providers. Stool may contain virus. Lactate dehydrogenase may be elevated. Various skin manifestations including patchy erythematous rash are reported.

Systemic Inflammation and COVID-19 Mortality in Patients with Major Noncommunicable Diseases: Chronic Coronary Syndromes, Diabetes and Obesity

“…The rapid elevation of proinflammatory cytokines triggered by monocyte infiltration stimulates the inflammatory response, resulting in the apoptosis of T cells, aiding in the propagation of the disease [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Interestingly in this disease, the inflammatory response may still increase, although the viral load is on a lowering trend [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

“…Myocardial injury is an important pathogenic feature of COVID-19 disease [ 1 , 2 , 13 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Myocarditis, heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, cardiac arrest or myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA) were observed in a significant proportion of patients with SARS-CoV-2.…”

Is COVID-19 Gender-sensitive?

“…ACE2 is expressed throughout the body and can be found in the lungs, cardiovascular system, central nervous system, gut, kidneys, and adipose tissue (Gheblawi et al 2020 ). Because of the wide expression of ACE2 throughout the body, studies have suggested that SARS-CoV-2 can impact all of these organs (Jain 2020 ). Particularly, one study regarding postmortem COVID-19 patients found SARS-CoV-2 antigens in the tubular epithelial cells of the kidneys, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect the kidney (Martinez-Rojas et al 2020 ).…”

<p>Incidence, Characteristics, Laboratory Findings and Outcomes in Acro-Ischemia in COVID-19 Patients</p>

“…Since the pandemic outbreak, new clinical features have been reported, such as neurological, myocardial, ophthalmic or cutaneous events. 16 Pseudo-chilblains in pauci-symptomatic children and adults have been widely described as a new late clinical manifestation. However, the true incidence of this type of skin injury remains unknown.…”