Acute Cardiac Injury and COVID-19 – A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract Introduction:The ongoing global pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has ranged from an asymptomatic state to unprecedented number of deaths worldwide. In symptomatic patients, a viral pneumonia can unrelentingly progress to multi-system failure with preferential cardiac tropism. Although the full spectrum of COVID-19 cardiac manifestations is still not clear; acute cardiac injury (ACI) remains a common finding. The goal of our study, not only is to examine the current prevalence of ACI among COVID-19 infected patients but also, the reported mortality.Method:After thoroughly searching the literature for appropriate studies, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed. Inclusion criteria were 1) Cohort study, case-control study, or case series study. 2) The study population included individuals with COVID-19 3) The presence or absence of cardiac injury was reported in the study 4) Mortality among patients with cardiac injury is reported or can be calculated.Results:Ten studies were included with a total of 1664 patients. The prevalence of ACI was 30.8%. The mortality rate among patients with concurrent COVID-19 and ACI was 53%.Conclusion:ACI can occur in one third of patients with COVID-19. Concurrent COVID-19 and ACI entails a high mortality rate. Serum troponin level can be a good prognostic tool in COVID-19.