Cor Vasa 2021, 63(3):359-363 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2020.073

A review of cardiovascular involvements associated with medications used to treat COVID-19 infection

Zeinab Mohseni Afshara, Arefeh Babazadehb, Alireza Janbakhsha, Masomeh Bayanib, Elham Ramezanic, Arezoo Salami Khaneshand, Soheil Ebrahimpourb
a Clinical Research Development Center, Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
b Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, I.R. Iran
c Department of Cardiology, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
d Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread rapidly across the world and is introduced as a global health crisis. COVID-19 is one of the threatening pandemics in history involving many organs, includ- ing the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular involvements, such as myocardial injury, myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmias, and heart failure, have been reported in the COVID-19 patients. Currently, there is no specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19; though, some therapies such as interferon, remdesivir, ribavirin, favipiravir, and tocilizumab are being used. The medications used to treat COVID-19 may have cardiovascular adverse events or interact with some cardiovascular drugs. The most concerning conditions caused by these medications are QTc prolongation and torsades de pointes (TdP), which might cause abrupt death. Here, we describe cardiac adverse effects and potential interactions of COVID-19 medications with cardiovascular agents.

Keywords: Cardiovascular system, COVID-19, COVID-19 drug treatment

Received: July 7, 2020; Revised: July 7, 2020; Accepted: July 18, 2020; Published: July 20, 2021  Show citation

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Afshar ZM, Babazadeh A, Janbakhsh A, Bayani M, Ramezani E, Khaneshan AS, Ebrahimpour S. A review of cardiovascular involvements associated with medications used to treat COVID-19 infection. Cor Vasa. 2021;63(3):359-363. doi: 10.33678/cor.2020.073.
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