ABC Imagem Cardiovasc. 2026; 39(1): e20260005

Complicações Cardiovasculares de Pacientes com COVID-19 e sua Relação com a Mortalidade: Uma Perspectiva Ecocardiográfica

João Henrique Andrade de

Almeida

, Gustavo Miranda de Azevedo

Ferreira

, Marina de Azevedo Martins

Andrade

, Heloísa Marceliano

Nunes

, Igor Brasil

Costa

DOI: 10.36660/abcimg.20260005

Abstract

Background:

Echocardiography plays a fundamental role in the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases related to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite prior investigation in the literature, studies focusing on cardiovascular manifestations among patients from the Brazilian Legal Amazon region remain scarce.

Objectives:

To identify cardiovascular complications of COVID-19 in patients admitted to a hospital in the North Region of Brazil and their potential association with mortality.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective cohort study including 25 medical records of adults diagnosed with COVID-19. These patients were admitted to a hospital in Belém, Pará, in Northern Brazil, between March 2020 and December 2020. Demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as echocardiographic findings, were extracted from the medical records. Statistical analyses were performed adopting a significance level of α < 0.05. The project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (approval number: 5.540.025).

Results:

Among the 25 patients, 15 (60%) were male, with a mean age of 69.6 ± 14.4 years. Hypertension (n = 23; 92%) was the most prevalent cardiovascular risk factor, followed by diabetes (n = 11; 44%) and obesity (n = 8; 32%). We detected echocardiographic abnormalities in 20 (80%) individuals, with diastolic dysfunction being the most frequent (n = 18; 72%). All 7 patients who died showed abnormal echocardiography (p > 0.05). Atrial fibrillation or flutter (n = 5; 20%), decompensated heart failure (n = 3; 12%), and cardiogenic shock (n = 2; 8%) were the most common types of cardiovascular involvement.

Conclusions:

An increasing trend in COVID-19 mortality was observed among patients with cardiovascular complications. Nevertheless, the statistical power was limited by the small sample size.