![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Khalid-Changal-Photograph-UT.jpg\")
<\/a>Changal<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe know that COVID-19 causes inflammation of the heart and we know patients who have heart disease experience worse outcomes with COVID,\u201d Changal said. \u201cOur study suggests COVID affects not only the heart muscle but the electrical system of the heart as well. This is something new.\u201d<\/p>\n
An intricate system of electrical impulses controls both the rhythm and rate of the heart. Disruptions to those signals can lead to irregular heartbeat conditions such as atrial fibrillation and, rarely, more dangerous and potentially life-threatening heart rhythm disturbances like ventricular fibrillation.<\/p>\n
To determine whether COVID-19 was interfering with the heart\u2019s electrical signals, Changal and a team of researchers that included scientists and physicians at UToledo, ProMedica, Detroit Medical Center and Owens Community College looked for what\u2019s called QTc prolongation \u2014 essentially a condition in which the heart takes longer to recharge between beats.<\/p>\n
Researchers analyzed electrocardiogram data collected from a group of nearly 300 patients with no history of the condition who were hospitalized with COVID-19 early last year.<\/p>\n
Of those patients, one in four showed evidence of the prolonged time between heartbeats during their hospitalization.<\/p>\n
While some patients who developed a change in their heartbeat had no known preexisting conditions, the condition was more likely to occur in older patients and those with underlying cardiovascular disease, liver disease or kidney disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cQTc prolongation can be a marker that the heart is unhealthy. Those patients could have the potential to develop serious or even life-threatening heart rhythm problems,\u201d Changal said. \u201cOur findings suggest it\u2019s important to closely monitor hospitalized COVID-19 patients for this, particularly those with underlying heart, liver or kidney conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study did not find that patients with QTc prolongation were more likely to die from COVID-19; however, researchers did note patients who developed the condition were more likely to be discharged to a skilled nursing facility rather than immediately returning home.<\/p>\n
Notably, the study also found patients who were taking ACE inhibitors \u2014 medications commonly used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure \u2014 were less likely to develop QTc prolongation.<\/p>\n
Whether to continue hospitalized COVID-19 patients on ACE inhibitors has been a topic of debate among the medical community, Changal said, as there were concerns the medication might increase some patients\u2019 susceptibility to the virus.<\/p>\n
Additional research has indicated those fears appear to be unfounded, but Changal\u2019s study is the first to suggest ACE inhibitors may play a protective role against COVID-19 interfering with heart signals.<\/p>\n
QTc prolongation caused by a viral infection or medication is generally a reversible phenomenon, and Changal said heart function should return to normal once patients have cleared the virus, but more research is needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t able to evaluate patients after they were discharged, and we don\u2019t know whether those with COVID-19 could be more likely to have heart rhythm problems down the road,\u201d Changal said. \u201cWe\u2019re still learning how this virus affects us, both during the acute phase and later down the road. This is an important area for future study.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The study furthers our understanding of how the virus can affect some patients\u2019 heart and cardiovascular function and was led by Dr. Khalid Changal, a cardiology fellow in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":849,"featured_media":66267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,38,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66236"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/849"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66236"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66269,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66236\/revisions\/66269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/K-Changal-photo-side-150x150.jpg\")
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