You're 16 times more likely to develop a deadly heart condition if you have suffered from severe Covid, a new study has warned. Scientists say people who experienced a serious bout of the virus face an increased risk of an abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular tachycardia within six months, reports the Mirror.
Known as arrhythmia, the condition is caused by the electric signals in the heart starting in a different place and travelling a different way through the heart. Researchers tracked rates of the condition and other arrhythmias in more than 31,400 participants in the study.
While the overall risk was low, Dr Marcus Stahlberg explained it was “much higher” in the adults who had severe Covid.
He said: “Covid patients who need mechanical ventilation often have other conditions and adding a heart rhythm disorder may lead to worsened health. These patients should seek medical attention if they develop palpitations or irregular heartbeats after hospital discharge so they can be evaluated for possible arrhythmias.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, a healthy heart typically beats about 60 to 100 times a minute at rest. But for patients with ventricular tachycardia, the heart beats faster, at around 100 or more beats a minute. This can be dangerous when the rapid heartbeat prevents the heart chambers from properly filling with blood. As a result, the heart may not be able to pump enough blood around the body.
The health body warns that ventricular tachycardia episodes lasting more than a few seconds can be life-threatening, and in some cases, can cause the heart to stop in cardiac arrest. If you have brief episodes of ventricular tachycardia that stop on their own, you may not get any symptoms at all.
Existing research has linked Covid to a range of heart problems, including heart failure, heart disease, heart attack, and deep vein thrombosis.
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Dr Stahlverg added: “An increased risk of arrhythmias following Covid has also been reported previously in the bulk of patients not requiring ICU treatment. Together with our new data, hospital systems should prepare for an increase in patients requiring management for new onset arrhythmias.”
