The COVID-heart CONNECTION

WHEN JACQUELINE SAENZ W CAUGHT COVID IN SEPTEMBER 2021, the 49-year-old accounting technician knew the virus might cause lung problems. Sure enough, she struggled to breathe and wound up on oxygen in the hospital, then at home for months afterward.

- MERYL DAVIDS LANDAU

What she never expected was that COVID could also damage her heart in ways that are still affecting her more than two years later. For months after Saenz was COVID-free, as she lay in bed each night, she felt intense pressure in her chest and the fluttering of her heart.

"I was really scared. I kept thinking, I'm too young to have heart issues," Saenz recalls. She delayed seeing her doctor because of fear, denial, and scheduling issues, but she eventually saw a cardiologist who diagnosed a condition known as premature ventricular contractions (PVC), in which extra heartbeats disrupt the heart's rhythm. Since then, Saenz has worn heart monitors at home, and she takes prescription beta-blockers. Fortunately, the symptoms have improved, meaning she lucked out in avoiding the invasive surgery her doctor had told her she might need.

Surprising but not shocking

When the pandemic initially tore through the world, physicians paid close attention to COVID's effects on the lungs. After all, COVID is a respiratory disease, says Giv Heidari, M.D., a cardiologist at the COVID19 Heart Clinic in California's Loma Linda University Health, where Saenz is being treated. But it's now clear that numerous other organsincluding the kidneys, the GI tract, and the heart-can be affected.