Cardiac dysfunction has been reported to be common in patients infected with COVID-19. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical importance of cardiac dysfunction in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit, with COVID-19 are examined with echocardiography for assessment of left and right ventricular dysfunction within 72 hours from admission and repeated after four to seven days.
Cardiac dysfunction was defined as having either left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, defined as having an ejection fraction \<50% and/or regional hypokinesia, or right ventricular (RV) dysfunction, defined as having a tricuspid annular plane excursion (TAPSE) \<17mm or a moderate/severe RV dysfunction assessed visually.
The cardiac biomarkers troponin and NTproBNP and clinical data are recorded at time of each echo. Mortality status is recorded at 30 days.
