Clinical outcomes of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in elderly male patients

Abstract

© Institute of Geriatric Cardiology

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread throughout the world involving more than 200 countries with more than 3 million confirmed cases and over 200,000 deaths worldwide.[1] COVID-19 patients primarily present with respiratory symptoms showing abnormal lung changes on chest X-ray or computed tomography (CT) with typical imaging appearances of ground glass opacities and consolidation.[2]–[5] In addition to the lung involvement, there is increasing evidence showing that SARS-CoV-2 affects cardiovascular system resulting in cardiac injury, such as development of acute myocardial injury, cardiac arrhythmia and cardiac complications which is associated with worse prognosis.[6]–[11] The main factor to predict the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 is patient's age because severe or critically ill conditions or worse outcomes are more frequently seen in elderly patients, especially in those with comorbidities including hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory and other conditions.[12]–[18]