COVID-19 and its cardiovascular effects: a systematic review of prevalence studies

In this short interview, Prof. John GF Cleland, senior author ofthis recently published Cochrane review, tells us about what this review found regarding the type of heart and blood vessel problems that complicate COVID-19 infections.Tell us about this review.This review first   focuses on cardiovascular problems pre-existing the development of COVID, usually in cases that were severe enough to require hospitalization. We know that older people are more likely to have cardiovascular disease and to be admitted with severe COVID. We are only looking at associations. It is unclear whether cardiovascular disease or age was the key driving factor, because the two problems are so interconnected. It is possible that after adjusting for age, cardiovascular problems are similarly common in people with and without COVID.The review then goes on to assess the risk of cardiovascular complications, highlighting which are the most common (unexpectedly, this was atrial fibrillation). The review does not investigate which treatments might effectively reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications.What bought brought you to this topic?The Cochrane Team put out a request to the British Heart Foundation Clinical Research Collaboration for help with reviewing the risk factors associated with developing or being hospitalized with COVID, and the consequences of hospitalization. We answered that call. We knew that many people infected by COVID-19 have few or no symptoms. However, COVID-19 can make ...
Source: Cochrane News and Events - Category: Information Technology Authors: Source Type: news