Cardiac Manifestation in Pulmonary Infections

Overview

Pulmonary infections, particularly severe ones like pneumonia, can have significant cardiac manifestations. These effects arise due to the systemic inflammatory response, hypoxia, hemodynamic changes, and direct effects on the heart from the infection or its treatment. Here are the critical cardiac manifestations that can occur in pulmonary infections: Increased Cardiac Workload, Right Ventricular Strain, Systemic Inflammatory Response and Sepsis, Myocardial Injury, Arrhythmias, Left Ventricular Dysfunction, Exacerbation of Pre-existing Heart Disease. Among ARIs, much focus has been given to influenza due to its severity. It is also one of the only respiratory infections for which effective prevention and treatment are available. This focus is supported by findings from observational studies that confirm an association between laboratory-confirmed ARIs and cardiovascular complications. However, where infections other than preventable and treatable influenza or S. pneumoniae result in cardiovascular complications, other approaches to avert these outcomes are required.