Heart and brain are the targets of the syndrome Long Covid. Antonio Giuseppe Rebuzziprofessor of cardiology at the Catholic University of Rome explains what the risks are and what needs to be done for the heart.
Where is the greatest damage from Long Covid concentrated?
Certainly the heart is one of the organs that can be the target of Covid, and of Long Covid, both directly and indirectly. Directly because the virus can cause inflammation of the muscle and pericardium causing myocarditis or pericarditis. Indirectly because heart patients, being fragile, have complications more easily.
What are the signs that should not be underestimated?
Pain in the retrosternal region that simulates an anginal crisis (but more persistent) is certainly an important signal because it indicates inflammation. If you add other symptoms such as breathlessness and palpitations that may be due to important cardiac arrhythmias or be a sign of decompensation. A condition in which the heart cannot pump adequate amounts of blood for the body’s needs.
Can the consequences of the infection be treated?
In most cases, both myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium, a sac-like structure that contains and protects the heart), especially if diagnosed in the early stages of the disease, can be treated and healed. without leaving major damage. Unfortunately, if the signals are underestimated and the disease is allowed to progress without the right therapy, it is possible that very serious and even permanent damage can develop in the organ.
Are serious effects also found in young subjects?
Obviously, young people respond better to the damage of Covid infection than the elderly. However, they too can be subject to Long Covid, albeit with less serious damage. Not to be underestimated in young people are some exaggerated responses to the vaccine that can lead to pericardial and, rarely, myocardial inflammation. Albeit of a small size. Long Covid can also lead to the onset of late and persistent symptoms for several months in children and adolescents.
Who in the future will be infected what tests will he have to do?
Anyone infected with Covid must undergo a cardiological examination to ascertain if the virus has compromised the functionality of the heart. In addition to the visit and the electrocardiogram, I believe it is important to do an echocardiogram that better assesses the cardiac contractility and the situation of the pericardium.
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