COVID-19, Kills Heart Cells and Interferes<br />With Contractions, Study Says.<br />Since early on, COVID-19 has been<br />associated with abnormal heart rhythms and<br />a reduced ability to pump blood. .<br />It has been unclear whether these problems are caused<br />by the virus directly infecting the heart or by an inflammatory response to the virus elsewhere in the body. .<br />A new study from Washington University School of<br />Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, has discovered more about<br />COVID-19’s effect on the heart. .<br />The study found evidence that damage<br />is being caused by the virus invading and<br />replicating inside heart muscle cells.<br />This ultimately leads to cell death and<br />interference with heart muscle contraction. .<br />Our study is unique because it definitively<br />shows that, in patients with COVID-19 who<br />developed heart failure, the virus infects the<br />heart, specifically heart muscle cells, Senior Author Kory J. Lavine, via Medical Xpress.<br />The study also found that heart damage can<br />occur even in the absence of inflammation,<br />as it is “not the initial cause of the heart injury.” .<br />COVID-19 is causing a different immune response<br />in the heart compared with other viruses, and<br />we don't know what that means yet … the<br />immune cells we see in COVID-19 heart patients<br />tend to be associated with a chronic condition<br />that can have long-term consequences, Senior Author Kory J. Lavine, via Medical Xpress
