SALT LAKE CITY – An Intermountain Healthcare cardiologist on Tuesday estimated that a large proportion of COVID-19 cases – including those that did not require hospitalization – could experience heartbeat due to the virus.
‘Before I researched some of the recent studies, I would have said that 10% might have evidence of heartbeat. But I think we’ll increase this estimate in the short term to, maybe in my mind, 30-50%, ‘said Dr Kirk Knowlton, director of cardiovascular research at Intermountain Healthcare and chair of the cardiovascular department at Intermountain Medical Center.
“And in the long run, I hope it’s much less than that. I hope it returns in the one-digit percentage, but we do not even know it yet. Humans can recover from viruses, which is one thing we have learned – even heart damage can recover from viral infection. ”
Heart damage, including blood clots and inflammation, has been detected in COVID-19 patients as early as the original outbreak in Wuhan, China, said Knowlton, whose research has focused on viruses that cause heart disease.
“Most viruses are implicated in heart disease. The incidence varies, the severity varies, but viruses can cause heart disease, ”he explained.
In a review of existing research, published in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Knowlton found that heart rate has been identified in about 20-30% of hospital COVID-19 patients, he said.
“When they had heart disease (from COVID-19), their prognosis was much worse,” according to Knowlton, who noted that they had a higher chance of requesting intubation and potentially dying.
The information comes as more Utahns who consider themselves “long-haulers” – those who have long-term effects after COVID-19 infections – speak out. They reported experiencing heart palpitations, increased heart pressure and other symptoms months after they were considered recovering from COVID-19.
However, extensive research into heart rate in patients with COVID-19 has been difficult “in part because I think people were not afraid to perform necessary screening or even autopsies on people who are partially infected because of the risks of infection for other persons, ‘said Knowlton.
Even after recovering from their infections, many patients had blood clots in their lungs, legs, arteries and veins, Knowlton said. Clotting can occur due to an infection of the vein cover, as well as inflammation caused by the virus.
‘If there is generalized worldwide inflammation … many other organs of it are infected, including the coagulation system, perhaps the heart, the lungs, and so on. And then there is just the stress of having COVID-19, or if there is some underlying heart disease that already exists, ”he said.
The cardiologist says he has helped a number of post-COVID-19 patients who were not hospitalized during their infections but who experienced heart palpitations, reduced exercise capacity and inflammation in the coverage of the heart. Long-term monitoring will be needed to determine if patients’ heart rate will end in the long term if it resolves itself over time, Knowlton said.
“I think we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg of that population because they do not have access to all those tests. They’re just trying to get better from this disease process,” Knowlton said.
‘I hate to think that half of everyone who has COVID-19 ends up with some myocardial damage. In the long run, we do not know for a year from now what it will look like, whether they will recover perfectly or not, but I think it added a new dimension to this concept of COVID-19, “said Knowlton.
New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital System has created a post-COVID-19 clinic for those dealing with long-term symptoms. Knowlton called a similar measure a “long-term possibility” in Utah, but said he hopes the state does not need it because the pandemic in the state is “sinking.”
The long-term damage being discovered due to COVID-19 should encourage people to take the disease seriously, Knowlton said.
‘Maybe there’s another parameter we need to think about. And that is related to could there be long term effects in other organs? … And we know, really not, even the long-term effects on the lungs. And that’s why I think it gives us reason to pause to think about the importance of preventing the disease, which is wearing mask, washing hands, social distance, ”Knowlton said.
New cases
Utah health officials reported 263 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and five additional deaths.
The cases were confirmed from 4,721 tests, with a positive rate of 5.6%, according to the Utah Department of Health. They bring the total of the state since the pandemic began to test 47,157 cases of 606,516 people, with an overall positive rate of 7.8%.
On Monday, the lowest number of daily new cases of coronavirus was confirmed since early June, with just under 250.
The rolling average of seven days for new cases is 341 per day, and the average positive test rate is 8.8%. Currently, 134 patients are in Utah hospital with the disease, five less than on Monday.
The five deaths on Tuesday brought the toll to 369. They include: a Salt Lake County man between the ages of 25 and 44 who was hospitalized when he died; a Salt Lake County woman between 45-64, who was a long-term resident; a Salt Lake County woman between 65-84 who was not hospitalized when she died; a Box Elder County man older than 85, who was a long-term resident; and a woman from Weber County between 65-84, who was hospitalized before she died.
About 38,500 of the state’s cases are considered recovered after surviving the point of three weeks since its diagnosis, meaning that less than 10,000 now have active infections.
The latest breakdown of Utah cases, hospitalizations and deaths by health district:
- Salt Lake County, 21,951; 1,429 hospital; 215 dead.
- Utah County, 9,576; 441 hospital; 39 dead.
- Davis County, 3,442; 196 hospital; 21 dead.
- Southwest Utah, 3,358; 189 hospital; 26 dead.
- Weber-Morgan, 3,019; 190 hospital; 26 dead.
- Bear River (Box Elder, Cache, Rich), 2,405; 115 hospital; 8 dead.
- Summit County, 758; 53 hospital; 1 dead.
- San Juan County, 656; 88 hospital; 26 dead.
- Tooele County, 623; 30 hospital; 0 dead.
- Wasatch County, 600; 24 hospital; 4 dead.
- Central Utah, 459; 26 hospital; 2 dead.
- TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 192; 16 hospital; 0 dead.
- Southeast Utah, 118; 7 hospital; 1 dead.
