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Heart abnormalities found in COVID-19 survivors, study says

3 years 3 weeks 6 days ago Tuesday, March 02 2021 Mar 2, 2021 March 02, 2021 12:37 PM March 02, 2021 in News - Local

One local nurse is advising people to get a heart scan after recovering from the COVID-19 virus.

Before identifying the COVID-19 strain, the staff at South Texas Health System Heart Hospital were taking in a massive amount of patients with serious heart conditions.

Once they learned the culprit for a majority of the emergencies was the coronavirus, Assistant chief Nursing Officer Wes Robinson started noticing aftereffects.

"We're continuing to see more cardiac patients after they've had COVID," Robinson said 

According to a study done by health.org, researchers found heart abnormalities in 78% of recovered COVID-19 patients – and ongoing heart inflammation in 60% of those patients.

“Like some bad viruses, coronavirus also is known to cause inflammation of the heart muscle,” STHS Cardiologist Dr. Swarnalatha Kannegati said. “That's called myocarditis. So, it's just heart muscle which is inflamed. Imagine if it's inflamed, it can become weak and cause congestive heart failure.”

Understanding the virus’ cardio impact, Robinson - who has not tested positive for the disease – decided to take the preventative route through the hospital’s “Heart risk Assessment” program.

The program assesses possible cardio issues through blood work and other exams.

Robinson’s results came back with no signs of plaque buildup in his heart. Now, he’s encouraging others to do the same. 

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