Patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19 exhibit cardiac systolic dysfunction and small vessel disease at long-term follow-up. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital published in Jama Network Open.
In the current study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet examined around 40 patients recruited from the post-covid outpatient clinic. The patients were examined with advanced cardiac imaging to investigate the blood flow through the heart muscle and the heart's pumping function. Both the blood flow and pump-function were reduced compared to age and sex matched controls.
"It is important to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms behind remaining symptoms after severe COVID-19 to identify possible targets for treatment", says Jannike Nickander , Associate Professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery , Karolinska Institutet and Resident physician at Karolinska University Hospital. "Our findings support that small vessel disease could play a role in pathophysiology and could thereby be a possible target for treatment".
"My current research focus is small vessel disease, which my team and I now have charted in several different diseases, says Jannike Nickander. We are now launching a study to understand the molecular mechanisms behind small vessel disease. Furthermore, to understand the interplay between the heart and lungs in patients with severe COVID-19 we are currently running a study on the pressure in the pulmonary artery".
The study was led by Jannike Nickander, in close collaboration with Henrik Engblom, Professor, and Rebecka Steffen Johansson , doctoral student at Karolinska Institutet, together with the post-covid collaboration at Karolinska University Hospital. It was funded by the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, the Swedish Society of Medicine, Region of Stockholm and Karolinska Institutet.
Publication
Long-Term Coronary Microvascular and Cardiac Dysfunction After Severe COVID-19 Hospitalization Steffen Johansson R, Loewenstein D, Lodin K, Bruchfeld J, Runold M, Ståhlberg M, Xue H, Kellman P, Caidahl K, Engblom H, Nickander J. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(6):e2514411. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.14411
