Background: Myocardial involvement induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection might be important for long-term prognosis. The aim of this observational study was to characterize the myocardial effects during SARS-CoV-2 infections by echocardiography.Results and methods: An extended echocardiographic image acquisition protocol was performed in 18 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection assessing LV longitudinal, radial, and circumferential deformation including rotation, twist, and untwisting. Furthermore, LV deformation was analyzed in an age-matched control group of healthy individuals (n = 20). The most prevalent finding was a reduced longitudinal strain observed predominantly in more than one basal LV segment (n = 10/14 patients, 71%). This pattern reminded of a “reverse tako-tsubo” morphology that is not typical for other viral myocarditis. Additional findings included a biphasic pattern with maximum post-systolic or negative regional radial strain predominantly basal (n = 5/14 patients, 36%); the absence or dispersion of basal LV rotation (n = 6/14 patients, 43%); a reduced or positive regional circumferential strain in more than one segment (n = 7/14 patients, 50%); a net rotation showing late post-systolic twist or biphasic pattern (n = 8/14 patients, 57%); a net rotation showing polyphasic pattern and/or higher maximum net values during diastole (n = 8/14 patients, 57%).Conclusion: Myocardial involvement due to SARS-CoV-2-infection was highly prevalent in the present cohort—even in patients with mild symptoms. It appears to be characterized by specific speckle tracking deformation abnormalities in the basal LV segments. These data set the stage to prospectively test whether these parameters are helpful for risk stratification and for the long-term follow-up of these patients.

Endurance exercise training (ET) is an effective treatment in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but the efficacy of resistance training in this patient population has been only scarcely evaluated. In this multicenter, randomized trial, we evaluated the effects of combined endurance and resistance training over 12 months in patients with HFpEF. The primary endpoint was a modified Packer score, including all-cause mortality, hospitalizations classified as potentially related to heart failure or exercise and changes in peak oxygen consumption (\({\dot{\rm{V}}}{\rm{O}}_2\)), diastolic function (E/e′), New York Heart Association (NYHA) class and global self-assessment (GSA). In total, 322 patients (mean age, 70 years; 192 females (59.6%) and 130 males (40.4%)) were randomized (1:1) to ET or usual care (UC). At 12 months, the modified Packer score showed an improvement in 33 ET patients (20.5%) and in 13 UC patients (8.1%) and showed a worsening in 69 ET patients (42.9%) and in 71 UC patients (44.1%) (Kendall’s tau-b = −0.073, P = 0.17). Although the primary endpoint was not met, clinically relevant differences favoring the ET group as compared to the UC group were observed for the following secondary endpoints: changes in peak \({\dot{\rm{V}}}{\rm{O}}_2\) (mean difference, 1.3 ml kg⁻¹ min⁻¹ (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4–2.1)) and NYHA class (odds ratio = 7.77 (95% CI: 3.73–16.21)). No significant between-group differences were observed for other secondary endpoints, including change in E/e′, change in GSA, time to cardiovascular hospitalization or all-cause mortality. In conclusion, 1 year of combined endurance and resistance ET did not result in a significantly better modified Packer score, but it did result in improvements in important clinical parameters, such as peak \({\dot{\rm{V}}}{\rm{O}}_2\) and NYHA class, as compared to UC. ISRCTN registration: ISRCTN86879094.

The echocardiographic assessment of mitral valve regurgitation (MR) by characterizing specific morphological features and grading its severity is still challenging. Analysis of MR etiology is necessary to clarify the underlying pathological mechanism of the valvular defect. Severity of mitral regurgitation is often quantified based on semi-quantitative parameters. However, incongruent findings and/or interpretations of regurgitation severity are frequently observed. This proposal seeks to offer practical support to overcome these obstacles by offering a standardized workflow, an easy means to identify non-severe mitral regurgitation, and by focusing on the quantitative approach with calculation of the individual regurgitant fraction. This work also indicates main methodological problems of semi-quantitative parameters when evaluating MR severity and offers appropriateness criteria for their use. It addresses the diagnostic importance of left-ventricular wall thickness, left-ventricular and left atrial volumes in relation to disease progression, and disease-related complaints to improve interpretation of echocardiographic findings. Finally, it highlights the conditions influencing the MR dynamics during echocardiographic examination. These considerations allow a reproducible, verifiable, and transparent in-depth echocardiographic evaluation of MR patients ensuring consistent haemodynamic plausibility of echocardiographic results. Graphic abstract