Calcaterra Giuseppe, Bassareo Pier P, Spaccarotella Carmen A, Barillà Francesco, Sciomer Susanna, Vadalà Giuseppe, de Gregorio Cesare, Romeo Francesco, Mehta Jawahar L, Mattioli Anna V
Postgraduate Medical School, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
University College of Dublin, School of Medicine, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Minerva Cardiol Angiol. 2024 Feb;72(1):24-31. doi: 10.23736/S2724-5683.23.06316-0. Epub 2023 Sep 13.
Clinical experience and several large studies in the field have found that SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause long-term persistent cardiovascular (CV) impairment beyond the acute phase of the disease. This has resulted in a major public health concern worldwide. Regarding COVID-related long-term involvement of various organs and systems, using specific definitions and terminology is crucial to point out time relationships, lingering damage, and outcome, mostly when symptoms and signs of CV disease persist beyond the acute phase. Due to a lack of a common standardized definition, investigators have used interchangeable terms such as "long COVID," "post-COVID," or "post-acute sequelae of COVID-19" to describe CV involvement, thus causing some confusion. For the sake of clarity, the aim of this paper is to discuss the definition and terminology used in defining sequelae after the acute phase of COVID-19, thus pointing out the meaning of definitions like acute cardiac injury, post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, long COVID syndrome, and increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
临床经验以及该领域的多项大型研究发现，新型冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）感染可在疾病急性期过后导致长期持续性心血管（CV）损害。这已引起全球范围内的重大公共卫生关注。关于新冠病毒对各个器官和系统的长期影响，使用特定的定义和术语对于指出时间关系、持续损害及后果至关重要，尤其是当心血管疾病的症状和体征在急性期过后仍持续存在时。由于缺乏通用的标准化定义，研究人员使用了诸如“新冠长期症状”“新冠后症状”或“新冠-19急性后遗症”等可互换的术语来描述心血管方面的影响，从而造成了一些混淆。为清晰起见，本文旨在讨论新冠-19急性期后定义后遗症时所使用的定义和术语，进而指出诸如急性心脏损伤、新冠-19急性后遗症、新冠长期症状综合征以及动脉粥样硬化性心血管疾病风险增加等定义的含义。
