Modeling the cardiac response to hemodynamic changes associated with COVID-19: A computational study

Emerging studies address how COVID-19 infection can impact the human cardiovascular system. This relates particularly to the development of myocardial injury, acute coronary syndrome, myocarditis, arrhythmia, and heart failure. Prospective treatment approach is advised for these patients. To study the interplay between local changes (reduced contractility), global variables (peripheral resistances, heart rate) and the cardiac function, we considered a lumped parameters computational model of the cardiovascular system and a three-dimensional multiphysics model of cardiac electromechanics. Our mathematical model allows to simulate the systemic and pulmonary circulations, the four cardiac valves and the four heart chambers, through equations describing the underlying physical processes. By the assessment of conventionally relevant parameters of cardiac function obtained through our numerical simulations, we propose a computational model to effectively reveal the interactions between the cardiac and pulmonary functions in virtual subjects with normal and impaired cardiac function at baseline affected by mild or severe COVID-19.