Occurrence of cardiovascular complications associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection: a systematic review

Abstract

Cardiovascular Diseases represent the main cause of death in the world, and are associated with risk factors that cause serious complications in cases of infections, such as those of the respiratory tract. In March 2020 the World Health Organization declared a pandemic for SARS-CoV-2, a new coronavirus causing severe pneumonia, which emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The objective is to investigate the occurrence of cardiovascular complications associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. It is a systematic review, quantitative, in the databases, PubMed and Science direct, including primary studies with hospitalized patients confirmed for COVID-19 and who presented cardiovascular complications, the form used tools for evaluation of quality and evidence, following the PRISMA recommendations. Results: 12 studies were included. The occurrence of cardiovascular complications was: 27.35% of the sample of 3,316 patients. Types: Acute cardiac injury 17.09%; Thromboembolism 4.73%; Heart failure 3.43%; Arrhythmias 1.77%; stroke 0.33%. Mean age 61 years. Conclusions: This study showed that there are several cardiovascular complications associated with SARS-CoV-2, that the main one is acute cardiac injury, which causes several instabilities in the cardiopulmonary system, and that it is associated with mortality.