Initial COVID-19 affecting cardiac patients in China

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19, the pathogen called SARS-CoV-2) has caused a worldwide outbreak since it occurred in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China in late December, 2019.1–3 On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 is a ‘public-health emergency of international concern’. On March 11, the WHO declared the virus a global pandemic. As of 25 March 2020, more than 375 000 cases of COVID-19 had been reported, and over 16 000 people had lost their lives, and this number is still increasing rapidly. Therefore, global research actions on COVID-19 are desperately needed to meet this unprecedented challenge. The largest cohort study to date of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 showed that in-hospital death was higher in patients with diabetes or coronary heart disease, and increased high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I during hospitalization was found in more than half of those who died.4 It is worth noting that the acute and chronic cardiovascular complications of COVID-19 need to be addressed.5,6 There are, however, only limited published data concerning cardiovascular presentations in the wake of viral epidemics. Currently, a total of 16 articles were found involving COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases in the WHO database of publications on COVID-19, with the keywords of cardiovascular/myocardial/cardiac/heart.