Covid-19 & Cardiac Complications.

Covid-19 and Multi-organ Disease

Initially it was believed that Covid-19 is a respiratory disease with symptoms like Cough, Pneumonia and shortness of breathing but recent research shows that it can also cause neurological and heart complications.

Says Dr. Akriti Gupta, Who was the first cardiology specialist to be the part of Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit at Columbia University, Irving Medical Centre. She observed that patients were clotting a lot, they had high blood pressure, diabetes even if they didn’t have diabetes and many were experiencing injury to heart and kidney. Physicians have reported that circulatory system in people with Covid-19 sometime leads to blood clots as well as cardiac complications like changes to the heart rhythm and damage to heart tissues.

The research suggest that it may be due to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). This is the same receptor the virus uses to infect the cells in lungs. The tissue that carry a lot of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 on their surface are greatly vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection and injury.

The ACE2 receptors reside on endothelial cells cause damages resulting in inflammation and blood clot formations. Clots impair the blood supply to tissue and lodge in circulatory system causing further blockage,inflammation and tissue damage.

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The symptoms are due to virus directly or as a consequence of other diseases is not yet completely described.

NEW EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT SARS-Cov-2 MAY AFFECT HEART

In new study of journal Cell Reports Medicines, It solved the confusion telling that SARS-CoV-2 can infect heart cells and change their functions. Their results from experiments in human stem cell tells that cardiac symptoms of Covid-19 may be the direct result of the infection of heart tissue.

The research in lab also showed that the virus can rapidly divide inside heart cells, that caused changes to the heart’s ability to beat after a period of under 3 days. Explained by Dr. Arun Sharma, a research fellow at the Regenerative Medicine Institute of Cedars-Sinai Medical center in Los Angeles.

REASONS OF MULTI-ORGAN DAMAGE

• The virus directly damage to cells that the virus itself infects.
• Damaging the endothelial cells, lining the blood vessels, resulting in blood clot and inflammation.
• Dysregulation of immune response.
• Disruption of hormones that regulate BP and Fluid balance .i.e.RAAS Mechanism.