MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE AND COVID-19

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) severe acute respiratory syndrome. The virus was discovered in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The advent of COVID-19 has posed challenges for healthcare professionals to quickly diagnose and provide medical care to patients. Currently, there is an intensive study of the clinical and epidemiological features of the disease, the development of new means of its prevention and treatment. The most common clinical manifestation of a new variant of coronavirus infection is bilateral pneumonia; in 3–4 % of patients the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome was recorded. In some patients, hypercoagulable syndrome with thrombosis and thromboembolism develops, other organs and systems (central nervous system, myocardium, kidneys, liver, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine and immune systems) are also affected, and sepsis and septic shock may develop. A high prevalence of concomitant diseases of the cardiovascular system has been shown, as well as their significant impact on the course of COVID-19 in such patients. Patients with pre-established medical conditions such as heart failure are at particularly high risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. The risk of complications may be higher in patients with heart failure, not only because they are older and have more comorbidities, but also because of the specific characteristics of the syndrome. A correct understanding of the interaction between heart failure drugs and proposed drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 can help in the management of this category of patients. The article presents the main mechanisms of the influence of COVID-19 infection on the development of heart failure, the features of the course of this disease against the background of COVID-19. The authors describe the key methods of examining patients with heart failure with suspected COVID-19 disease, the features of the use of the main groups of drugs recommended for patients with heart failure, as well as moments of interaction between pharmacological drugs and the development of adverse side effects. Keywords: heart failure, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, comorbidity, pharmacotherapy.