217 - ONGOING CARDIOVASCULAR AUTONOMIC ISSUES AFTER COVID - WHAT THE CARDIOLOGIST SHOULD KNOW

Friday, October 28, 2022

9:45 AM – 10:30 AM EDT

Location: Room 215

Target Audience: Clinical cardiologists, Community cardiologists, Trainee (clinical)

Presenter(s)

JE

Jodi D. Edwards

Scientist, Director of Brain and Heart Nexus Research Program
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Paula J. Harvey

Physician-in-Chief, Department of Medicine
Women's College Hospital, University of Toronto
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
SR

Satish R. Raj, MD MSCI

Professor of Cardiac Sciences
CHRS
University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Planning Committee Member(s)

TH

Tarek Hatoum, MD

Syncope and Autonomics Fellow
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
LK

Louis Kolman, FRCPC

Assistant Clinical Professor
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
LL

Lucy Lei

Undergraduate Researcher
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
DP

Danielle Pohn, n/a

Patient Partner
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
RS

Robert S. Sheldon, MD PhD FRCP(C) FCAHS FCCS (he/him/his)

Professor Cardiac Sciences
University of Calgary
University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:

describe the epidemiology of post-acute sequelae of COVID (PASC) or “Long COVID”;
diagnose patients with post-acute sequelae of COVID (PASC) or “Long COVID";
describe the impact on patients with “Long COVID"; and
manage patients with “Long COVID”.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact in Canada and worldwide. While the initial focus has rightly been on the acute illness, there are increasing reports of many patients suffering from ongoing long-term symptoms, even several months after resolution of the acute illness. This has been formally termed “Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID” (PASC) but is often called “Long-COVID syndrome”. A common complaint is lightheadedness on standing (orthostatic intolerance; OI) and tachycardia, fatigue, and exercise intolerance. Some of these are thought to be due to problems with the autonomic nervous system. In many cases, patients are disabled and not able to attend work/school like before their illness.

Despite the severe disability experienced by some patients, there is much that we do not know about PASC with disabling OI:

What is going wrong?
What are the impacts on these patients?
How can this be treated?

In this workshop, we will use an interactive case-based format to address issues related to cardiovascular autonomic manifestation of Long COVID syndrome. We will review the available data about the epidemiology of and clinical impacts on patients with Long COVID syndrome, objective abnormalities of cardiovascular autonomic function, and emerging evidence for approaches to treatments. We will reference position statements on Long COVID/PASC from the European Society of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

Although this topic is relatively new, it is relevant to clinical care in daily practice. We hope that the participants will leave the workshop with an enhanced appreciation of the manifestations and impact of Long COVID, and strategies for its management.