Prevalence of abnormal left ventricular global longitudinal strain by speckle tracking echocardiography and its prognostic value in patients with COVID-19.

Importance: Although cardiac injury is a known complication of COVID-19 infection, there is no established tool to predict cardiac involvement and in-hospital mortality in this patient population.

Objective: To assess if left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS) can detect cardiac involvement and be used as a risk-stratifying parameter for hospitalised patients with COVID-19.

Main Outcomes And Measures: In-hospital mortality.

Results: We found a statistically significant association between LV-GLS and in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.09; 95% CI 1.0 to 1.19, p=0.050). Furthermore, right ventricular fractional area change was significantly associated with in-hospital mortality (aOR=1.04; 95% CI 1.0 to 1.08, p=0.043). Troponin level had no statistically significant association with in-hospital mortality (aOR=3.43; 95% CI 0.78 to 15.03, p=0.101).

Conclusion And Relevance: LV-GLS can be a useful parameter for cardiovascular risk assessment in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 infection.