The Acute and Chronic Implications of the COVID-19 Virus on the Cardiovascular System in Adults: A Systematic Review

Despite coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) primarily being identified as a respiratory illness, some patients who seemingly recovered from initial infection, developed chronic multi-system complications such as cardiovascular (CV), pulmonary and neurological issues leading to multiple organ injuries. However, to date, there is a dearth of understanding of the acute and chronic implications of a COVID-19 infection on the CV system in adults. A systematic review of the literature was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines and prospectively registered via Prospero (ID: CRD42022360444). The MEDLINE Ovid, Cochrane Library and PubMed databases were searched from inception to August 2022. The search strategy keywords and MeSH terms used included: 1) COVID; 2) coronavirus; 3) long COVID; 4) cardiovascular; and 5) cardiovascular disease. Reference lists of all relevant systematic reviews identified were searched for additional studies. A total of 11,332 records were retrieved from database searches, of which 310 records were duplicates. A further 9887 were eliminated following screening of titles and abstracts. After full-text screening of 1135 articles, 9 manuscripts were included for review. The evidence of CV implications post-COVID-19 infection is clear, and this must be addressed with appropriate management strategies that recognise the acute and chronic nature of cardiac injury in COVID-19 patients. Efficacious management strategies will be needed to address long standing issues and morbidity.