The following are key perspectives from the Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Cardiology (CJC) about initial COVID-19 affecting cardiac patients in China:

1. An article entitled “Impact of complicated myocardial injury on the clinical outcome of severe or critically ill COVID-19 patients” in CJC by Professor Hesong Zeng and colleagues from Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, reported on the impact of evidence of myocardial injury among patients with COVID-19.
2. Among patients with myocardial injury, hospital mortality was more than three times higher than the normal serum cardiac troponin level.
3. Moreover, the levels of C-reactive protein, average 153.6 ng/L vs. 49.8 ng/L, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, 852.0 ng/L vs. 197.0 ng/L, were significantly higher in patients with myocardial injury.
4. It appears that prevalence of myocardial injury is high among severe or critically ill COVID-19 patients, who face a significantly higher risk of in-hospital mortality.
5. Furthermore, the study suggests that it is important to monitor and manage myocardial injury during hospitalization for severe or critically ill COVID-19 patients.
6. The chest computed tomography (CT) features of patients with heart failure are similar to those with COVID-19.
7. Therefore, it is a great challenge to make a clear diagnosis early during the global pandemic, as pointed out by Professor Shenghua Zhou and colleagues from Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in their article entitled “Comparison of heart failure and COVID-2019 in chest CT features and clinical characteristics.”
8. For imaging features, both groups had ground-glass opacity and thickening of interlobular septa, but the ratio of central and gradient distribution was higher in patients with heart failure than that in patients with COVID-19 (4/7 vs. 1/12).
9. It seems enlargement of pulmonary veins, lesion distribution, and morphology are highly important clinical findings to identify the chest CT features between heart failure and COVID-19.
10. Additional research on the prognosis, evaluation, and management of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular complications in COVID-19 patients is essential.

Clinical Topics: Acute Coronary Syndromes, COVID-19 Hub, Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies, Noninvasive Imaging, Prevention, ACS and Cardiac Biomarkers, Acute Heart Failure, Heart Failure and Cardiac Biomarkers, Computed Tomography, Nuclear Imaging

Keywords: Acute Coronary Syndrome, COVID-19, Coronavirus, C-Reactive Protein, Critical Illness, Diagnostic Imaging, Heart Diseases, Heart Failure, Hospital Mortality, Natriuretic Peptide, Brain, Pandemics, Primary Prevention, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Tomography, X-Ray Computed, Troponin

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