Impaired Right Ventricular Longitudinal Strain Without Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients Who Have Recovered From COVID-19

Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction (RVD) is associated with worse outcome in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a cause of RVD in COVID-19 respiratory failure and is associated with negative prognosis. Major pulmonary embolism, alveolar and endothelial injury, and thrombotic microangiopathy are potential triggers for new-onset PH in the acute phase. Persistent RV involvement has been reported in patients recovered from COVID-19. However, the association between persistent RV impairment and new-onset PH remains unexplored. We evaluated the prevalence of PH and RVD in patients recovered from COVID-19.