Document Detail


Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever: does it involve the heart?
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  18980852     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever with a high mortality rate. Despite increasing knowledge about viral hemorrhagic fevers, the pathogenesis of CCHF and causes of death have not been well described. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the cardiac functions of CCHF patients. METHODS: This prospective study was performed among confirmed CCHF cases in Turkey in 2007. All the patients underwent a thorough cardiologic evaluation and transthoracic echocardiography examination within 24hours of hospitalization. In addition, the patients were classified into two groups - 'severe' CCHF and 'non-severe' CCHF. Demographic characteristics, findings of echocardiography, and outcomes were recorded for each patient. RESULTS: Among 52 consecutive patients with a tentative diagnosis of CCHF, 44 were confirmed as having CCHF. Seventeen (38.6%) patients were classified as severe, whereas the remaining 27 (61.4%) patients were classified as non-severe. Five of 17 severe CCHF patients died. Severe cases had a lower left ventricular ejection fraction (p=0.04), a higher systolic pulmonary artery pressure (p=0.02), and more frequent pericardial effusion (p<0.001) compared to non-severe cases. Fatal CCHF cases also had a lower left ventricular ejection fraction (p=0.03), a higher systolic pulmonary artery pressure (p=0.03), and more frequent pericardial effusion (p=0.01) compared to survivors. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that severe and fatal CCHF cases have impaired cardiac functions, which may be associated with fatality in CCHF infection. Direct invasion of the heart muscles by the virus or endothelial damage of cardiac structures may have a role in this. Molecular testing methods would be useful in order to investigate direct invasion by the CCHF virus. Clinicians should be aware of this complication.
Authors:
Aynur Engin; Mehmet Birhan Yilmaz; Nazif Elaldi; Alim Erdem; Kenan Yalta; Izzet Tandogan; Safak Kaya; Mehmet Bakir; Ilyas Dokmetas
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article     Date:  2008-11-05
Journal Detail:
Title:  International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases     Volume:  13     ISSN:  1878-3511     ISO Abbreviation:  Int. J. Infect. Dis.     Publication Date:  2009 May 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-04-24     Completed Date:  2009-07-17     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9610933     Medline TA:  Int J Infect Dis     Country:  Canada    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  369-73     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Cumhuriyet University, School of Medicine, 58140 Sivas, Turkey. aynurum2000@yahoo.com
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Aged
Echocardiography
Female
Heart Diseases / mortality*,  ultrasonography,  virology*
Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / mortality*,  physiopathology*,  ultrasonography
Humans
Incidence
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Turkey / epidemiology
Young Adult

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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