Longitudinal strain and myocardial work in symptomatic patients having recovered from COVID-19 and possible associations with the severity of the disease

COVID-19 may have residual consequences in multiple organs, including the cardiovascular system. The purpose of the present investigation is to quantify myocardial function in symptomatic individuals with long COVID and investigate the association between illness severity and myocardial function. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in which symptomatic individuals with previous COVID-19 underwent echocardiographic analysis of left ventricle global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) and myocardial work (MW). Individuals also performed cardiopulmonary testing (CPX) to assess peak oxygen uptake (VO_2peak). Differences between illness severity subgroups were analyzed by the Mann–Whitney test. Correlations were calculated using the Spearman correlation test. Multilinear regressions were performed to evaluate the influences of COVID-19 severity, body mass index, age, and sex on MW. Fifty-six individuals were included (critical subgroup: 17; moderate/severe subgroup: 39), 59% females; median age: 56 years (IQR: 43–63). CPX revealed a substantial reduction in VO2_peak (median of 53% of predicted values). LVGLS were not statistically different between subgroups. Global wasted work (GWW) was higher in the critical subgroup [146 (104–212) versus 121 (74–163) mmHg%, p = 0.01], and global work efficiency (GWE) was lower in this subgroup [93 (91–95) versus 94 (93–96), p = 0.03]. Illness severity was the only independent predictor of GWW and GWE (GWW: r² = 0.167; p = 0.009; GWE: r² = 0.172; p = 0.005) in multilinear regressions. In our study with long COVID-19 individuals, despite having a similar LVGLS, patients had subclinical LV dysfunction, demonstrated only by an increase in GWW and a decrease in GWE.