Introduction
Pulmonary coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a multifaceted
viral infection with subsequent immunologic complications not only
engaging the respiratory system but also with more studies emerging,
more details are being discovered about the potential maladies inflicts
upon many organs and systems of the body
(1). The spectrum of COVID-19 infection
spans from mild, self-limiting respiratory tract sickness to fatal
progressive pneumonia and multiorgan failure
(2, 3).
A variety of cardiac complications, comprising of stress-induced
myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, acute failure of right and
left ventricles with subsequent elevations in right ventricular
afterload as a result of pulmonary embolism or pneumonia, tamponade, and
cardiomyopathy, have been reported in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in
the acute phase of the disease (4,
5).
It has been suggested that
cardiac problems are frequent (20 to 25%) with COVID-19 infection and
are associated with in-hospital mortality. In those reports, cardiac
problems were determined only based on clinical and laboratory data
(e.g., troponin levels) and without systematic cardiac imaging
(6).
Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is the principal imaging modality
for the evaluation of the heart, which is a widely accessible and
inexpensive tool.
Echocardiography has been
remarkably useful in assessing the aforementioned complications
throughout the era of COVID-19 (7).
However, studies concerning the
long-term cardiac effects of this infection in non-hospitalized patients
have remained scarce (5).
In this study, we aimed to
evaluate the long-term alterations of echocardiographic findings in
health care workers of a tertiary center who are young, productive, and
without prior cardiac complications based on their clinical COVID-19
severity six months after being diagnosed with COVID-19 infection.