Features of echocardiographic examination in patients with COVID-19

Novel coronavirus infection has become one of urgent health problems of the 21st century. The associated disorders often result in the development of cardiopulmonary pathology, which requires creation of a new paradigm in diagnosis and treatment. Studies performed during the pandemic have demonstrated an important role of echocardiography (EchoCG) in diagnosis of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in patients with respiratory insufficiency in COVID-19. The analysis of EchoCG parameters with a high prognostic value showed that in EchoCG, a special attention should be paid to right heart dimensions, RV contractility, and pulmonary artery (PA) systolic pressure, which are the most sensitive indexes of RV afterload and indirect markers of pulmonary disease severity. RV FAC can be recommended for evaluation of the RV systolic function as the most informative variable. Also, it was demonstrated that the RV longitudinal strain has an additional significance for early identification of signs of systolic dysfunction and risk stratification in patients with COVID-19. In addition to the effectiveness and reproducibility of this method, an important advantage of EchoCG is its availability, possibility of saving images for remote interpretation by other specialists, and tracking changes in morphological and functional parameters of the heart. Thus, the analysis of international literature suggests that EchoCG plays an important role in prediction of severe cardiopulmonary disorders and timely selection of the treatment for patients with COVID-19. For these reasons, EchoCG should serve as an additional method of clinical evaluation, particularly in persons with moderate or severe disease.