The review, published in the European Heart Journal, was conducted by researchers from the University of Oxford, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College, London, and the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
The review spans each step from a patient’s original coronavirus infection and the direct impacts, such as myocardial infarction or inflammatory myocarditis, to the long-term impacts on aspects of wellbeing such as mental health and fatigue.
The researchers also concluded that current evidence for the treatment of long COVID is lacking and that our current understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms and treatment options remains limited. They also found that the vast inequalities in healthcare provision exposed by COVID-19 continue to be magnified by long COVID, a problem that calls for global humanitarian efforts to promote and fund equitable access to healthcare, social and welfare support, and vaccines across the world.