Previous and First Detected Cardiovascular Diseases in Patients with New Coronavirus Pneumonia: Possible Mechanisms and Place in a Unified Prognostic Model.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the frequency of cardiac involvement in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), possible immune mechanisms of myocardial injury, and the place of cardiovascular pathology among other prognostic factors. METHODS: The study included 86 patients (48 male, 60.2 ± 16.6 years) with COVID-19. In addition to common investigation, examination of troponin T (n = 18) and anti-heart antibodies (AHA, n = 34) were used. The average hospital period was 14 [12; 18] days. RESULTS: The incidence of cardiovascular disease and symptoms was 45.3%. Arrhythmias, heart failure, low-QRS voltage, repolarization disorders, and pericardial effusion were the typical for coronavirus cardiac injury. The level of AHA was increased in 73.5%. Significant (p < 0.05) correlations of AHA level with inflammatory activity, pneumonia, respiratory failure, cardiac symptoms, and death were found. D-dimer >0.5 µg/mL had a sensitivity of 79.2% and specificity of 60% in the prediction of cardiovascular manifestations. Cardiac failure was one of the causes of death in 3/8 patients (37.5%). Lethality in the presence of cardiovascular pathology was 17.9 versus 2.2% without it, p < 0.05. The most powerful prognostic model includes age, diabetes, oxygen therapy volume, maximum leukocyte level, C-reactive protein, and D-dimer (correlation coefficient 0.871, p < 0.001). The model with only age, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease included also had predictive power (correlation coefficient 0.568, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The cardiovascular pathology is frequent in patients with COVID-19 and strong correlates with the D-dimer. It indicates the high significance of prothrombotic and ischemic mechanisms. High AHA levels may reflect an inflammatory heart injury. The cardiovascular pathology is associated with higher lethality.

Anti-heart antibodies levels and their correlation with clinical symptoms and outcomes in patients with confirmed or suspected diagnosis COVID-19.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the blood level of anti-heart antibodies (AHA) and its correlation with clinical outcomes in patients with severe and moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study included 34 patients (23 males; mean age 60.2 ± 16.6 years) with COVID-19 pneumonia. Besides standard medical examination, the AHA blood levels were observed, including antinuclear antibodies, antiendothelial cell antibodies, anti-cardiomyocyte antibodies (AbC), anti-smooth muscle antibodies (ASMA), and cardiac conducting tissue antibodies. Median hospital length of stay was 14 [13; 18] days. AHA levels were increased in 25 (73.5%) patients. Significant correlation (p < 0.05) of AHA levels with cardiovascular manifestations (r = 0.459) was found. AbC levels correlated with pneumonia severity (r = 0.472), respiratory failure (r = 0.387), need for invasive ventilation (r = 0.469), chest pain (r = 0.374), low QRS voltage (r = 0.415), and levels of C-reactive protein (r = 0.360) and lactate dehydrogenase (r = 0.360). ASMA levels were found to correlate with atrial fibrillation (r = 0.414, p < 0.05). Antinuclear antibodies and AbC levels correlated with pericardial effusion (r = 0.721 and r = 0.745, respectively, p < 0.05). The lethality rate was 8.8%. AbC and ASMA levels correlated significantly with lethality (r = 0.363 and r = 0.426, respectively, p < 0.05) and were prognostically important. AHA can be considered as part of the systemic immune and inflammatory response in COVID-19. Its possible role in the inflammatory heart disease requires further investigation.

Immunohistochemical Investigation of the Heart Allograft Myocardium (1991-1998).

What is a contribution of the humoral (vascular) and mixed type of the rejection episodes to all the episodes of heart allograft rejection is not quite clear, though this factor is of considerable importance for the choice of the treatment methods. The hearts from recipients, as well as endomyocardial biopsies of the heart allografts and postmortem material were investigated with the aim to determine the immunopathological process. Overall, 420 samples from 80 patients were analyzed. Immunofluorescence examination of endomyocardial biopsy showed that in 8 from 44 patients with heart allograft in postoperative period for the first six weeks there were revealed the immunomorphological signs of the acute humoral rejection, manifested as fixation of immunoglobulins and complement in capillaries. Six of them exhibited rejection of mixed type. Most patients in the later postoperative period exhibited a discrete local fixation of immunoglobulins and complement in myocardium, that can be assessed as one of the compartments of the chronic rejection process. In cases of the secondary administration of serum preparations, the fixation of immune complexes was shown in sarcolemma and capillaries, and can be proposed as a sign of serum disease. Repeated acute rejection episodes of humoral or mixed types raised at the first six weeks after transplantation. In the period from 1-5 years after operation, patients displayed discrete deposits of the immunoglobulins and complement as part of the chronic rejection process.