Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 12, 2025

Morphological and Functional Assessment of the Right Ventricle Using 3D Echocardiography
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Morphological and Functional Assessment of the Right Ventricle Using 3D Echocardiography

Published on: October 28, 2020

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Long-Term Cardiac Sequelae in Patients Referred into a Diagnostic Post-COVID-19 Pathway: The Different Impacts on the

Giovanna Pelà1,2, Matteo Goldoni1, Chiara Cavalli1

  • 1Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy.

Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)
|November 27, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Long COVID can cause lasting heart problems, affecting both right and left ventricles. The severity of lung damage and hemodynamic instability influence right ventricle changes, while inflammation impacts the left ventricle.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pulmonology

Background:

  • Persistent symptoms after COVID-19 infection are common, but long-term cardiac outcomes remain unclear.
  • Understanding the cardiac sequelae of COVID-19 is crucial for patient management and therapeutic strategy development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To prospectively and retrospectively define the cardiac sequelae following COVID-19 infection.
  • To investigate the morpho-functional characteristics of the right (RV) and left (LV) ventricles post-COVID-19.

Main Methods:

  • A monocentric cohort study of 160 consecutive patients post-COVID-19 discharge.
  • Data collection included acute phase clinical features, ECG, echocardiography, and follow-up parameters.
  • Multivariate analysis was employed to identify independent predictors of cardiac changes.

Main Results:

  • At 5-month follow-up, echocardiography revealed RV dilation, pulmonary hypertension, and bi-ventricular systolic-diastolic dysfunction.
  • RV changes were associated with High-Resolution computed tomography (HRCT) score and hemodynamic instability (HI).
  • LV changes were independently associated with C-reactive protein levels, indicating inflammatory impact.

Conclusions:

  • COVID-19 can differentially impact the right and left ventricles.
  • RV alterations are linked to pneumonia severity and hemodynamic instability.
  • LV dysfunction may be influenced by the systemic inflammatory response post-COVID-19.
  • Long-term follow-up is essential for optimizing therapeutic interventions.

Keywords:
SARS-CoV-2biventricular dysfunctioncardiac involvementechocardiographylong-COVID-19pulmonary hypertension

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