Almost 12% of COVID19 patients develop heart problems, including heart rhythm disorders and even cardiac arrest, according to a recent Dutch study. It is the largest study yet on the link between coronavirus and heart problems.
The study included 3,011 hospitalized corona patients, and was supported by the Heart Foundation, reports De Telegraaf. Of these, almost a third already had cardiovascular disease, and the mean age was 67 years old.
Heart conditions
Pulmonary embolism occurred in 7% of hospitalized coronavirus patients. But atrial fibrillation and other atrial arrhythmias proved to be the most common heart problems among test patients. More serious conditions including heart failure (55 patients), myocardial infarction (15 patients), cardiac arrest (14 patients), and inflammation of the heart (8 patients) were rarer, and tended to occur in critically ill patients in intensive care.
Deaths and long-term effects
Of those hospitalized, 595 died and 16 of these were from heart problems. Patients who died were in the hospital for seven days on average, and patients in intensive care were there for an average of 13 days. Other studies have shown that permanent lung damage may be another effect of the coronavirus, but more research needs to be done on the long-term effects of COVID-19.
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