Cardiac symptoms in patients 3-6 months after catching COVID-19
Babicki et al., (2025) summarised by Amanda Harrington-Vail
Introduction
In this study entitled “Cardiac symptoms in patients 3–6 months after contracting COVID-19 – data from the Polish STOP-COVID registry”, 1,080 patients were examined three to six months after COVID-19 infection (pre-omicron variant or omicron) to investigate persistent cardiac symptoms and their relationship to cardiac function and mental health. The study included 1,080 adult participants from the Polish STOP-COVID registry. The average age of participants was 56.9 years; 68.9 % were women; 53.1 % were infected during the Omicron variant; 44.4 % had hypertension and 18.0 % had high cholesterol levels.
Summary
During a visit to the doctor three to six months after the infection, the participants were asked about their symptoms, filled out some questionnaires about their mental health and had some tests carried out. These tests consisted of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, Holter electrocardiography and echocardiography.
The results showed that more than half (54.3%) of the patients reported at least one cardiac symptom, with fatigue (38.9%) and palpitations (17.6%) being the most common. Patients with palpitations had significantly more ventricular extrasystoles on the Holter ECG than patients without palpitations (p = 0.011), although the standard cardiological examinations (ABPM, echocardiography) showed hardly any differences overall. The researchers surmised that the lack of difference between the groups could be because some cardiac complications were asymptomatic and the time of data collection was too early, so that there was not enough time to detect cardiac damage in the standard cardiovascular tests.
Long Covid patients with cardiac symptoms had significantly higher scores on the depression (PHQ-2) and anxiety (GAD-2) scales. A PHQ-2 score ≥3 was associated with a higher heart rate. The researchers found a link between mental illness and heart symptoms: participants with heart symptoms had higher scores for depression and anxiety in the study. However, the researchers provide no evidence that one condition causes the other, and many people living with Long Covid experience depression and anxiety.
Conclusion
Persistent cardiac symptoms appear to be common after COVID-19 infections and are associated with cardiac arrhythmias. Many of the participants with cardiac symptoms also had poor mental health. The study highlights the need for holistic, multidisciplinary care, including cardiological assessment and mental health support for people following Covid-19 infections. The authors recommend monitoring individuals to detect and treat late complications. Awareness of the increased risk of cardiovascular disease following COVID-19 infection can lead to timely referral, diagnostic assessment and treatment to prevent long-term cardiovascular complications.
Read the study here
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