Coronavirus and cardiovascular manifestations-getting to the heart of the matter

Coronavirus disease has unarguably been the largest pandemic of recent times. Over 150 million cases have occurred worldwide, and more than 3 million have succumbed to the disease. Cardiac manifestations can have varied presentations from an asymptomatic troponin rise to fulminant myocarditis. The pathogenesis of myocardial damage could be direct or indirect, including inflammation, coronary spasm, plaque rupture, and cytokine storm. Thromboembolism is also an important feature of cardiovascular affliction with both arterial and venous systems being affected. Hence, anticoagulation has also been a matter of debate. Fulminant myocarditis is the most severe form and can lead to circulatory shock with a high mortality. Management of cardiac patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) infection is not considerably different from non-COVID-19 cardiovascular disease, but interaction between cardiovascular drugs and antiCOVID-19 therapy requires careful attention. More recently, vaccines have emerged as a ray of hope for the disease. But simultaneously, there have been reports of thromboembolism following vaccination. In this review, we discuss the various aspects of coronavirus disease affecting of heart and its management.     

Caractéristiques de l’atteinte cardiaque au cours de la granulomatose éosinophilique avec polyangéite

Aim of the studyOur study aimed to identify the characteristics of cardiac involvement in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analytic study including EGPA cases diagnosed between 2000 and 2019 in an internal medicine department. Diagnosis was made according to the 1990 American College of Rheumatology criteria and the 2012 Chapel Hill Concensus.ResultsEleven EGPA cases were included, 64% of patients were female. Median age at diagnosis was 52 years [42–58]. Heart damage revealed EGPA in 55% of cases with a significant predominance of women (p = 0.015). The main cardiac manifestations were myocarditis, ischemic cardiomyopathy due to small vessel vasculitis, cardiac tamponade and intracardiac thrombus. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) mainly showed subendocardial hyposignal in early infusion and late enhancement in the same areas, nodular by locations, associated with impaired left ventricle function and micro-infarctions by distal vasculitis. Cardiac damage was associated to ANCA negativity in 83.3% of cases. The median Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score version3 (BVAS v3) was 16 [10–17]. Under conventional treatment, no relapses had occurred. The median vasculitis damage index (VDI) was 2 [1–2.3] and the mortality rate was zero after a mean follow-up of 43 months.ConclusionCardiomyopathy is a frequent revealing mode of EGPA. A late onset asthma and hypereosinophilia should guide the diagnosis. As ANCA research often turns out to be negative, histological evidence is recommended in this context. The contribution of cardiac MRI in the diagnosis of EGPA remains to be defined.     

Microvascular heart involvement in systemic autoimmune diseases: The purinergic pathway and therapeutic insights from the biology of the diseases

Heart involvement – often asymptomatic – is largely underestimated in patients with systemic autoimmune diseases (SADs). Cardiovascular events are more frequent in patients with SADs compared to the general population, owing to the consequences of inflammation and autoimmunity and to the high prevalence of traditional risk factors. Coronary microvascular disease (CMD) is a form of cardiac involvement that is increasingly recognised yet still largely neglected. CMD, the incapacity of the coronary microvascular tree to dilate when myocardial oxygen demand increases or when there is a microvascular spasm (or subclinical myocarditis), is increasingly reported because of the widespread use of new cardiac imaging tools, even in a subclinical phase. The assessment of myocardial coronary flow reserve (CFR) emerged as the most effective clinical tool to detect microvascular damage. The potential causes of microvascular damage, molecular and cellular inflammation along with a pathological CD39-CD73 axis, need always to be considered because data show that they play a role in the occurrence of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure and arrhythmias, even in the early asymptomatic stage. Data suggest that controlling disease activity by means of methotrexate, biologic drugs, antimalarial medications, statins and aspirin, according to indication, might reduce the cardiovascular risk related to macrovascular and microvascular damage in most patients with SADs, provided that they are used early and timely to control diseases. The need of new biomarkers and a careful assessment of myocardial CFR emerged as the most effective clinical tool to detect microvascular damage.     

辅酶Q10联合维生素C对病毒性心肌炎患儿心肌酶谱及心电图的影响

目的:分析辅酶Q10联合维生素C对病毒性心肌炎患儿心肌酶谱及心电图的影响。方法:选择2018年1月至8月四川省宣汉县人民医院儿科收治的病毒性心肌炎患儿84例,年龄1～14岁,性别不限,采用随机数字表法分为维生素C组和联合辅酶Q10组,每组42例。两组均给予常规抗病毒、对症治疗。在常规治疗的基础上,维生素C组给予注射用维生素C治疗,联合辅酶Q10组采用维生素C联合辅酶Q10治疗,持续4周。比较治疗前、后心肌酶谱、心电图疗效。结果:治疗4周后,两组患儿心肌酶谱指标均明显改善,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),联合辅酶Q10组改善更明显(P<0.05)。联合辅酶Q10组心电图疗效优于维生素C组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:辅酶Q10联合维生素C对病毒性心肌炎患儿心肌酶谱及心电图改善效果更好。     

Cardiac involvement in mixed connective tissue disease: A systematic review

Objective

To report the clinical characteristic of cardiac disease in patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD).

Method

We identified published case series that reported cardiac manifestations of patients with MCTD by searching the PubMed database using the search terms “mixed connective tissue disease”. We identified 11 case series that met our eligibility criteria.

Result

616 patients were included. Prevalence of cardiac involvement varied from 13% to 65% depending on patient selection and method used for detection. Pericarditis was the most common cardiac diagnosis with a prevalence of 30% and 43% in two prospective studies. Non-invasive cardiac tests, including electrocardiogram and echocardiogram, detected subclinical cardiac abnormalities in 6%–38% of patients. These abnormalities included conduction abnormalities, pericardial effusion and mitral valve prolapse. Diastolic dysfunction and accelerated atherosclerosis were well-documented in a case–control study. Three prospective studies revealed an overall mortality of 10.4% over the period of follow-up of 13–15 years. 20% of the mortality was directly attributable to cardiac cause.

Conclusion

Cardiac involvement was common among patients with MCTD though the involvement was often clinically inapparent. Non-invasive cardiac tests might have a role for subclinical disease screening for early diagnosis and timely treatment as cardiac involvement was one of the leading causes of mortality.     

病毒性心肌炎患者血清一氧化氮和肿瘤坏死因子含量变化及意义

目的:探讨病毒性心肌炎(VMC)患者血清一氧化氮(NO),肿瘤坏死因子(TNF)含量的变化及其意义。方法:检测70例病毒性心肌炎患者血清一氧化氮和肿瘤坏死因子含量,选择30例健康体检者作对照组。结果:VMC患者血清NO和TNF水平明显高于对照组(P<0.01),且二者含量呈显著正相关(P<0.05)。结论:血清NO和TNF含量增加是VMC病理生理特征之一,且二者在VMC发病中具有协同作用。