Comorbidities and clinical complications associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection: an overview

Clin Exp Med. 2023 Jun;23(2):313-331. doi: 10.1007/s10238-022-00821-4. Epub 2022 Apr 1.

Abstract

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes major challenges to the healthcare system. SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to millions of deaths worldwide and the mortality rate is found to be greatly associated with pre-existing clinical conditions. The existing dataset strongly suggests that cardiometabolic diseases including hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes and obesity serve as strong comorbidities in coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Studies have also shown the poor outcome of COVID-19 in patients associated with angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 polymorphism, cancer chemotherapy, chronic kidney disease, thyroid disorder, or coagulation dysfunction. A severe complication of COVID-19 is mostly seen in people with compromised medical history. SARS-CoV-2 appears to attack the respiratory system causing pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, which lead to induction of severe systemic inflammation, multi-organ dysfunction, and death mostly in the patients who are associated with pre-existing comorbidity factors. In this article, we highlighted the key comorbidities and a variety of clinical complications associated with COVID-19 for a better understanding of the etiopathogenesis of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cancer; Cardiovascular disease; Comorbidity; Diabetes; Thyroid disorder.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19* / complications
  • Comorbidity
  • Humans
  • Hypertension*
  • Obesity / complications
  • Obesity / epidemiology
  • SARS-CoV-2