More than half of the coronavirus patients involved in a new heart scan study were found to have some form of heart damage. Over 1,200 patients participated in the study, most of whom had confirmed COVID-19 cases, while about 300 were deemed probable cases, and about 100 were assumed to have been infected with the virus. Patients with abnormal scans were more likely to be older and have underlying heart problems, but the proportion of abnormal scan results remained the same after patients with existing heart conditions were removed from analysis, suggesting that new heart issues were related to COVID-19. “Damage to the heart is known to occur in severe flu, but we were surprised to see so many patients with damage to their heart with COVID-19 and so many patients with severe dysfunction,” study co-author Professor Marc Dweck said.
