COVID-19 Kills Heart Cells and Interferes With Contractions, Study Says

COVID-19, Kills Heart Cells and Interferes With Contractions, Study Says.

Since early on, COVID-19 has been associated with abnormal heart rhythms and a reduced ability to pump blood.

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It has been unclear whether these problems are caused by the virus directly infecting the heart or by an inflammatory response to the virus elsewhere in the body.

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A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis, Missouri, has discovered more about COVID-19’s effect on the heart.

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The study found evidence that damage is being caused by the virus invading and replicating inside heart muscle cells.

This ultimately leads to cell death and interference with heart muscle contraction.

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Our study is unique because it definitively shows that, in patients with COVID-19 who developed heart failure, the virus infects the heart, specifically heart muscle cells, Senior Author Kory J.

Lavine, via Medical Xpress.

The study also found that heart damage can occur even in the absence of inflammation, as it is “not the initial cause of the heart injury.” .

COVID-19 is causing a different immune response in the heart compared with other viruses, and we don't know what that means yet … the immune cells we see in COVID-19 heart patients tend to be associated with a chronic condition that can have long-term consequences, Senior Author Kory J.

Lavine, via Medical Xpress