Cardiovascular complications in the context of COVID-19: arrhythmias

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global crisis of unprecedented level for all mankind. The whole process of studying the disease (etiopathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, prognosis) was not easy, because COVID-19 is a relatively new nosology that the world has never encountered. Cardiovascular complications in COVID-19 play an important role in the prognosis of morbidity and mortality. As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, more and more patients with cardiac arrhythmias, arterial hypertension and other cardiovascular complications appear. This may be due to the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the respiratory, cardiovascular and other systems, as well as the development of inflammation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were more patients with arrhythmias. According to some data, the risk of arrhythmias in COVID-19 in hospitalized patients varies from 7.57% to 17.97%. The main causes of arrhythmia in the context of COVID-19 are hypoxia (acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary embolism, the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on chemoreceptors), myocarditis (direct and indirect effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the myocardium), electrolyte imbalance, autonomic dysfunction, cardiotoxic drugs used in COVID-19. There can often be several reasons, and it is quite difficult to figure out which one has become the main one for each patient. This review focuses on the potential mechanisms for the development of cardiac arrhythmias in patients with COVID-19. Cardiologists, therapists and family medicine physicians should be aware of cardiovascular complications in the management of patients with COVID-19, and the prophylactic medical examination of the population.