Key result
SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in the surgically resected left atrial tissue of 44% (4/9) of patients more than 6 months after recovering from COVID-19.
Why the study?
Does SARS-CoV-2 RNA persist in cardiac tissue in patients who have recovered from COVID-19?
Does SARS-CoV-2 RNA persist in cardiac tissue in patients who have recovered from COVID-19?
SARS-CoV-2 can persist in the myocardium for more than 6 months following COVID-19 recovery, potentially contributing to chronic inflammatory cardiac damage in long-COVID.
It is well known that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients present with symptoms involving multiple organs, in addition to its original manifestation of respiratory symptoms. Studies have reported that the coronavirus affects extrapulmonary organs including cardiovascular system (1-5). The cardiac injury associated with COVID-19 includes development of acute myocardial injury, cardiac arrhythmia and other cardiac complications which worsen the prognosis (6-8). Early reports during the pandemic outbreak in 2020 showed that about 12% of COVID-19 patients suffered from acute heart injuries (9), and 5–25% of hospitalised COVID-19 patients had elevations in cardiac troponin which is a biomarker of myocardial injury (9-11). While acute cardiac injury is well recognised and reported in the literature with clear definition, chronic cardiovascular damage associated with COVID-19 patients remains uncertain due to variable clinical manifestations in long-COVID patients.
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Sun et al. (2024) conducted an editorial in Recovered COVID-19 (n=9). Prior COVID-19 infection was evaluated on Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA genomes in surgically resected left atrial tissue (4 of 9 patients). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in the surgically resected left atrial tissue of 44% (4/9) of patients more than 6 months after recovering from COVID-19.
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