It’s well-known that COVID-19 affects the respiratory system, infecting healthy lung cells with the COVID-19 virus, but if it spreads to the heart it could become a much more deadly disease. A recent study found that in more than 10 percent of COVID-19 cases where heart damage occurred, there was no history of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, a blood marker for heart damage (troponin) was the single best predictor of death, suggesting that heart damage is a key factor in mortality. Now the virus has been found in heart tissue, and the virus can infect human heart cells in a dish, stopping them from beating. Investigating the link between COVID-19 and damage to the heart is vital to preventing cardiovascular effects in future patients and perhaps finding a treatment for COVID-19 induced heart failure.

Senior Investigators Bruce Conklin, MD, and Todd McDevitt, PhD, are investigating how COVID-19 might damage the heart by asking two questions: How susceptible are the cells in the heart to infection by the virus, and what pharmaceuticals could be used to lessen damage to the heart or prevent the virus from infecting heart cells altogether… Continue reading.