COVID-19 and Heart Failure: The Big Challenge

Ata, Fateen; Montoro-Lopez, Maria Nieves; Awouda, Samah; Elsukkar, Abdallah M Abu; Badr, Amr Mohamed Hamed; Patel, Ashfaq Ahmad Abdul Hamid

Patients with chronic heart failure (HF) are among the most vulnerable populations in the COVID era. HF patients infected with COVID-19 are at a significant risk of severe illness and death. They usually present with shortness of breath and radiologic signs of an acute decompensation, which can mask the manifestations of COVID-19. Delay in the diagnosis increases the risk of individual poor outcomes and jeopardizes healthcare workers if protective and isolation measures are not established promptly. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing health-care systems to modify the delivery of care to patients. Outpatient services are being done virtually, and elective procedures postponed. These may have an impact on the quality of life and survival of chronic HF patients. We present two cases of patients with the previous history of HF who developed an acute exacerbation secondary to COVID-19 infection. In this review, we focused on the main challenges physicians face when dealing with COVID-19 in chronic HF patients at the individual and system levels.