Right heart status in patients with COVID-19: a literature review

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented strain on healthcare worldwide. Considering that the main pathophysiological processes causing the severe and extremely severe course of the disease are COVID-19-associated pneumonia and hypercoagulation, the hemodynamics of pulmonary circulation and the right heart was of particular concern. Echocardiography has become the main method for assessing the condition of the right heart in COVID-19 patients, owing to its availability and speed of the investigation. However, echocardiographic assessment of the right heart is challenging, and data in the available literature are conflicting. The functioning of the right parts of the heart regarding normality and in conditions of COVID-19 infection is shown. The results of studies aimed at assessing the structural, hemodynamic, and functional parameters of the right heart during the acute course of the disease and in the long-term period — from a month to a year — were studied. Currently, there is no consensus on the effect of COVID-19 on the condition of the right side of the heart in the long term and, accordingly, further monitoring of patients who have had COVID-19, especially severe and extremely severe cases, is required.