In New York City, doctors began emergency surgery on a patient who had all the signs of a heart attack. An electrocardiogram showed dangerous heart rhythm. A blood test revealed high blood levels of troponin, a sign of damaged heart muscle.
But, on the operating table, the patient showed no blocked arteries.
What he did have, it turns out, was coronavirus.
Now recovered after a 12-day stay, the patient was one of similar cases reported around the world.
For doctors the case is troubling.
Should the cardiac test for troponin routinely be administered to Covid-19 patients? Should heart patients immediately be tested for Covid-19?
A March study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted by doctors in Wuhan, China, where the virus was first identified. The small study was limited to a review of records of 188 patients, according to JAMA. The study found that 20 percent of the Covid-19 patients were found to have heart damage. Upon admission, Covid-19 patients without heart disease were found to show signs of heart injury, including elevated troponin, and abnormal electrocardiograms. Patients showing these symptoms had a four times greater risk of death than a Covid-19 patient with no abnormal heart readings, according to the New York Times.
Some experts believe heart problems are caused by the body's immune and inflammatory response to the virus.