Emerging evidence of myocardial injury in COVID-19: A path through the smoke

Gregorio Tersalvi^1,2, Giacomo Veronese^3,4, Dario Winterton^3,4✉

1. Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Lugano, Switzerland.
2. Department of Internal Medicine, Hirslanden Klinik St. Anna, Lucerne, Switzerland.
3. Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, ASST Monza, Monza, Italy.
4. School of Medicine, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.

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Citation:
Tersalvi G, Veronese G, Winterton D. Emerging evidence of myocardial injury in COVID-19: A path through the smoke. Theranostics 2020; 10(21):9888-9889. doi:10.7150/thno.50788. Available from http://www.thno.org/v10p9888.htm

Abstract

Although Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents primarily as a respiratory condition, a growing body of evidence shows it is a systemic disease. Recently, many authors have described myocardial damage in COVID-19, suggesting various pathophysiological mechanisms. In this issue, Cao et al. demonstrate the prognostic value of cardiac troponin I in patients with COVID-19, showing how even minor elevations in this molecule carry a great impact on patient mortality. In a situation such as the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, where healthcare resources are placed under enormous stress, readily available tests such as this play an important role in helping clinicians identify patients at greater risk of developing severe forms of the disease, and should be included in the initial triage panel.

Keywords: COVID-19, Myocardial injury, Troponin, Prognosis, Risk stratification