Deleterious effects of viral pneumonia on cardiovascular system

Jiahao Duan^1,2†, Yeshun Wu^2†, Cunming Liu¹, Chun Yang¹*, and Ling Yang²*

¹Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China; and ²Department of Cardiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou 213003, China

* Corresponding authors. Tel: +86 18260062666, Email: [email protected], [email protected] (C.Y.); Tel: +86 13616110633, Email: [email protected] (L.Y.)

^† Jiahao Duan and YeshunWu should be considered as shared first authors.

Viral pneumonia has a significant effect on the cardiovascular system through various mechanisms; even though it is traditionally regarded as a pulmonary disease characterized by dyspnoea and hypoxaemia. Recent research works have shown that cardiovascular events outweigh all other causes of death in various influenza pandemics. Therefore, the exploration of the effects of viral pneumonia on cardiovascular system becomes increasingly essential. The objective of this review is three-fold: first, to summarize the knowledge about the epidemiological characteristics and clinical manifestations of viral infections that are the recent causes of global pandemics; second, to explore the cardiovascular response to these infections; and third, to attempt in identifying the possible coping strategies of the Wuhan epidemic and the future viral infection pandemics.

Keywords Viral pneumonia • Virus • Cardiovascular system • Mechanism

Figure 1 Clinical manifestation of viral pneumonia. ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome; CS, cytokine storm; MOF, multiple organ failure; SIRS, systemic inflammatory response syndrome.