Pathophysiology of Cardiac Cell Injury in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome

Abstract:
Recently, the scientific community has realized that COVID-19 effects are not limited to the acute period of infection but continue beyond that to cause more prolonged pathological changes. Post-COVID syndrome is a novel concept that describes the sequelae/persistent pathophysiological changes of post-COVID-19 infection. The current hypothesis suggests the involvement of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in cardiac arrhythmias, coronary artery aneurism, acute renal injury, central nervous system degenerative diseases, vascular endothelial cell dysfunction, and pulmonary dyspnea, as well as fibrotic lung damage. Therefore, COVID-19 has been identified as a poly-syndromic and poly-systemic inflammatory disease. Post-COVID extrapulmonary complications have been observed in approximately 85% of hospitalized COVID-19 survivors and 35% of COVID-19 outpatients. Furthermore, 25% of hospitalised COVID-19 survivors developed myocardiopathy.