A small study has suggested that COVID-19 patients who continue to be short of breath during physical activity one year after recovering from the infection may have suffered heart damage. The research was presented at EuroEcho 2021, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

The findings could help to explain why some patients with long COVID still experience breathlessness one year later and indicate that it might be linked to a decrease in heart performance,” said study author Dr. Maria-Luiza Luchian of University Hospital Brussels, Belgium.

Increasing evidence of cardiovascular complications due to COVID-19

There is increasing evidence of cardiovascular complications due to COVID-19 and of long-lasting symptoms such as dyspnoea (shortness of breath), known as long COVID. This study investigated whether subclinical heart abnormalities were more common in long COVID patients with dyspnoea – thereby potentially explaining the reason for their symptoms.

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