Understanding the Prevalence and Mortality of Acute Right Ventricular Strain in Covid-19 Patients, an Observational Analysis

Coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2), a virus that has impacted nations and caused a global pandemic. Although COVID-19 is known to initially manifest as a pulmonary disease, we now understand it affects many major organ systems in the body, including the heart. Case reports have been published showing evidence of right ventricular (RV) strain as a result of contracting the COVID-19. However, the overall prevalence of RV strain secondary to the virus has not been well established. In this multicenter, observational analysis, we studied the prevalence of RV strain in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We found the prevalence of RV strain to be small, ~1.5%. The average length of stay in patients with RV strain was 7 days compared to 8.63 days in non-RV strain patients. Those with RV strain were witness to have a 50% mortality rate.