Patients who’ve survived COVID-19 may be at greater risk of developing long term heart problems. 

A recently published paper in the medical journal JAMA Cardiology featured a study where 78 of 100 subjects who had recovered from COVID-19 developed cardiac abnormalities. Many of them had no heart conditions before contracting the virus.

Dr. Ameya Kulkarni, a cardiologist at Kaiser Permanente in Northern Virginia, said that most COVID-19 survivors do not develop clinical heart complications. 

But he said even those without pre-existing heart conditions should watch out for symptoms.  

“Things like swelling in the leg swelling in the belly, waking up in the middle of the night short of breath...those are things to look out for,” Kulkarni said.

He encourages people to get a check up whether or not they know they’ve had COVID-19. 

“The most important thing is to pay attention to your symptoms. And not to worry alone,” Kulkarni said.