According to a story published on tctmd.com, patients living with long COVID can experience a wide range of symptoms. One of these symptoms includes chest pain. Scientists weren’t certain what caused chest pain in this illness, but a recent, small-scale study involving 20 patients may have identified the mechanism behind it: ischemia with nonobstructive coronary arteries (INOCA).
Chest Pain and Long COVID
There’s still a lot that isn’t well understood about long COVID, but chest pain was identified early on as one of the principal symptoms, believed to affect as many as 25% of people living with the disease. The researchers drew on data from 140 patients that reported INOCA, and of this group, 20 reported the onset of chest pain after being infected with COVID-19. Chest pain began a median 31 days following the COVID diagnosis.
About the Study
Of this group, 40% reported chest pain during exercise, 30% reported symptoms while at rest, and 25% reported chest pain during both situations. 80% of these patients would ultimately get a confirmed INOCA diagnosis. The scientists aren’t sure why COVID causes chest pain but noted that the virus has a “strong affinity” for vascular endothelial cells, which could impact blood flow control.
Treatments approaches for these patients included calcium channel blockers (sometimes with nitrates), beta-blockers, statins, lifestyle changes, ARBs, and ACE inhibitors. Patients reported significant improvements at a median follow up of 214 days. Ultimately, an INOCA diagnosis for long COVID patients allows for more tailored treatment that is based on the cause of the chest pain. This could be especially important in patients experiencing more serious disease with a greater number of symptoms.
Outcomes for treating angina (chest pain) in long COVID are varied. It seems like in many cases, the symptom can be improved, if not fully resolved. Future research will include a larger scale study of at least 100 patients with INOCA and long COVID, with the goal of improving outcomes with treatments based on the findings from intracoronary function tests.
Learn more about this research here.
