Electrocardiographic changes and clinical profile of patients hospitalized at a university hospital with clinical suspect of covid-19

Eletrocardiográficas e perfil clínico de pacientes internados em hospital universitário com suspeita clínica de covid-19

Resumo

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major challenge for the Brazilian health system since the beginning of 2020. Among the difficulties faced, the predisposing factors for the higher mortality rate due to SARS-COV-2 infection stand out. Electrocardiographic findings point to cardiac alterations that suggest predisposition or complications of COVID-19 associated with greater morbidity. Objective: Identifying electrocardiographic changes and profiling hospitalized patients with clinical suspicion of COVID-19. Methodology: Ongoing cohort study, which included 38 patients admitted to the HDT/UFT between March and July 2020, of both genders, aged from 27 to 94 and with clinical suspicion of COVID-19, who had an electrocardiogram with a report issued by a cardiologist. The study in question was approved by the research ethics committee. Results: There was a predominance of elderly patients with comorbidities (50% hypertensive, 42.1% diabetic, 31.6% obese, 10.5% with chronic lung disease and 5.3% with heart disease). 92.1% of patients were confirmed for COVID-19 (RT- PCR and/or serologic testing). Azithromycin being the most used medication during hospitalization, 28.9% of patients progressed to respiratory failure and orotracheal intubation. Electrocardiographic evaluations in the initial phase of hospitalization showed that 89.5% had sinus rhythm and 10.5% had atrial fibrillation or atrial rhythm. In 13.2% of the cases there were alterations that suggested acute or chronic ischemic involvement, 10.5% alterations in ventricular conduction and 26.1% alterations in ventricular repolarization (QT interval ranging from 100 to 515 ms).