Heart injury could be a common condition in patients hospitalized with Covid-19, according to a new study that also shows it's linked to a greater risk of death among those patients.
The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Cardiology, found that among a group of Covid-19 patients hospitalized in Wuhan China, 19.7% suffered cardiac injury, which was found to be a risk factor for dying in the hospital.
Cardiac injury, also referred to as myocardial injury, occurs when there is damage to the heart muscle, and such damage can occur when blood flow to the heart is reduced - which is what causes a heart attack.
The new study, conducted from January to February, included data on 416 adults who were confirmed to have Covid-19 and were hospitalized at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in China.
The data showed that 82 of the patients, or 19.7%, had cardiac injury and 334 patients, or 80.3%, did not, CNN reported.
The data also revealed that the death rate was higher among patients with cardiac injury versus those without: 42 of the patients with cardiac injury, or 51.2%, died versus 15 of those without, or 4.5%.
"Approximately 30% and 60% of patients with cardiac injury in the present study had a history of coronary heart disease and hypertension, respectively, which were significantly more prevalent than in those without cardiac injury," the researchers wrote in the study.
