Cardiac involvement in COVID-19: a matter close to the heart, beyond the acute illness

Abstract

Human infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 have been ravaging the entire world since December 2019. As of February 17, 2023, records from the World Health Organization point to more than 756 million confirmed cases and approximately 6,845,000 deaths. In Brazil, until this date, approximately 36,961,000 cases have been reported, with about 698,000 deaths.Among the deaths, the main comorbidities reported are heart disease (40%), diabetes (28%), obesity (10%), neurological diseases (5%), kidney diseases (5%), and pneumopathies (5%). Furthermore, 70% of patients who died were 60 years old or older, and males were prevalent in 60% of the cases.