Scientists have ample evidence of heart damage in COVID-19 patients. Some people, for example, show elevated levels of troponins, molecules released in the blood when the heart is injured. Others have experienced inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart and inflammation of the heart itself. But it’s been unclear whether these problems were caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus attacking the heart directly, or the damage is due to an overactive immune response.
Part of the problem is that previous studies are mixed about whether SARS-CoV-2 can invade heart tissue. Many that
haven’t found the virus use real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), says James Stone, a cardiovascular pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. RT-PCR works by detecting viral RNA in tissue, then making many DNA copies of it. Once there’s enough DNA, a molecule called a fluorescent tag can stick to it and shine to reveal its presence. But Stone says that heart tissue is often processed and preser
January 27, 2021
Two new pathology studies are highlighting the prevalence of microvascular thrombi in the hearts of patients with COVID-19 and exploring the role they might play in causing acute ischemic injury.
In the first, which was led by Giulio Guagliumi, MD (Ospedale Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy), and senior investigator Aloke Finn, MD (CVPath Institute, Gaithersburg, MD), more than one-third of patients who died of COVID-19 had evidence of cardiac injury, predominantly focal myocyte necrosis, the cause of which they attribute to microthrombi present in the myocardial capillaries, arterioles, and small muscular arteries.
More of TCTMD s coverage on our COVID-19 hub.