Cardiovascular System and SARS-CoV-2: Etiology, Physiopathology and Clinical Presentation: A Systematic Review

Abstract

During SARS-CoV-1 and Middle East Respiratory Distress Syndrome (MERS) outbreaks it was observed a particularly elevated incidence of cardiovascular disease among patients. With COVID-19, this correlation becomes evident again. However, the cardiovascular impacts by COVID-19 pandemic are not yet well established although publications about its potential deleterious effects are constant. Thus, aimed to carry a systematic review of the literature with meta-analysis, the following question was used as a guide: what practical contributions does the scientific literature produced in the period of 2019-2020 has to offer about the impact of the COVID-19 on cardiovascular system? A systematic review of the literature using the Virtual Health Library (VHL) and PubMed with the following descriptors: #1 “cardiovascular disease” [MeSH] AND #2 “COVID-19” [keyword], as well as their equivalents in the Portuguese and Spanish language, during the period from December 2019 to March 2020 was performed. One hundred articles were found in Pubmed and twenty-seven were selected. In VHL there are 59 articles and four were selected totaling thirty-one papers. The findings were then divided into three subcategories: Etiology, Physiopathology and Risk factors of SARS-CoV-2 in Cardiovascular System; Clinical presentation, laboratory markers and imagenological aspects of SARS-CoV-2 in cardiovascular system; and Anti-Hypertensive Drugs, Cardiovascular System and SARS-CoV-2. When it comes to the cardiovascular system, these issues are aggravated and urge as a joint commitment from researchers, medical and governmental organizations to carry out more robust studies with bold methodologies aimed at mapping prognostic factors and assertive therapeutic approaches in the management of cardiovascular complications of COVID- 19.