Scientists from the University of Glasgow found one in eight people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 were later diagnosed with myocarditis or heart inflammation.
They that patients hospitalized with COVID-19 between May 2020 and March 2021 have a number of ongoing health conditions.
The study also looked at why some patients suffer long-term ill health after hospitalization with COVID-19.
The research is published in Nature Medicine and was conducted by Professor Colin Berry et al.
Until now it has been speculated that previous underlying health conditions may be linked to the severity of post-COVID long-term effects.
However, this study suggests that it is the severity of the COVID-19 infection itself which is most closely correlated to the severity of a patient’s long-COVID symptoms, rather than pre-existing health problems.
In the study, the team examined 159 patients for 1 year after they were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Hospitalization with COVID-19 was found to cause a number of long-term health problems.
Researchers found that 1 in 8 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have heart inflammation, while inflammation across the body and damage to the other organs such as the kidneys was also common.
These problems clustered in individuals pointing to the overall severity of COVID-19 as being the main driver of illness.
Exercise capacity and health-related quality of life were markedly impaired initially after discharge from the hospital and remained reduced one to two months after discharge—this was especially the case in patients with heart inflammation.
During a period of 450 days after discharge from the hospital, one in seven patients died or were readmitted to the hospital, and two in three patients required NHS outpatient care.
The team found having been hospitalized with COVID-19 was associated with a worse health-related quality of life as well as anxiety and depression.
The team says COVID-19 is a multi-system disease, and our study shows that injury to the heart, lungs and kidneys can be seen after initial hospitalization in scans and blood tests.
These results bridge a vital knowledge gap between our current understanding of post-COVID-19 syndromes, such as Long COVID, and objective evidence of ongoing disease.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about people who are more likely to get severe COVID-19 after vaccination, and this drug combo can effectively fight COVID-19.
For more information about COVID, please see recent studies about the cause of severe disease and death in COVID-19, and results showing the maximum risks of COVID infection with and without masks.
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