Even mild COVID cases can cause long-term heart problems, researchers find

Cardiac doctors are reporting a growing number of patients like Knight, who have lingering post-COVID cardiovascular symptoms or new, serious heart conditions. These patients may have a wide range of heart problems, including irregular or racing heartbeat, blood clots, coronary disease and heart failure.

A new large study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 1 in 5 adult COVID survivors under the age of 65 in the United States has experienced at least one health condition that could be considered long COVID. Among those 65 and over, the number is 1 in 4.

Long COVID is the name given to symptoms of a coronavirus infection that linger for more than a month and can include problems in many different organs such as the heart, lungs and kidneys.

The extent of long COVID cardiac symptoms is coming into better focus.

“We’ve seen, since early on, patients come in with long COVID,” said Dr. Jeffrey Marshall, chief of Northside Hospital Cardiovascular Institute. “And the first thing that doctors have to do is decide does this patient have objective heart disease, or do they have this syndrome where they tend to be dizzy when they stand up — people who have a fast heart rate, fatigue, but they don’t have anything structurally wrong with their heart based on our current knowledge?”