During the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak that erupted in China in late 2019, Dr Ning ZHOU, a cardiologist in Wuhan city, contracted the virus. He eventually recovered, and after several weeks in quarantine, he went back to work to care for the thousands of patients that flooded the local hospitals.

Other healthcare workers were not so lucky. In a video presentation that was hosted by the Asia Pacific Society of Cardiology on 17 Apr 2020, Dr Zhou noted that more than 3000 medical staff in Wuhan have so far been infected with the virus, and 61 of them died.

Dr Zhou’s personal experience with COVID-19 was challenging, but it also gave him a frontline perspective on clinical management of the disease in China. His presentation included clinical case studies that highlighted emerging treatment protocols.

These case studies came from Dr Zhou’s experience as Deputy Chief Physician in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, a city of roughly 12 million people that is widely believed to be the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. He works at the hospital’s Optic Valley campus, a 1000-bed facility that was recently designated as a special hospital for the treatment of severe COVID-19 cases.

Citing data from a March 2020 study [1] in JAMA on mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, Dr Zhou emphasised that underlying health conditions, and particularly heart disease, are highly correlated with adverse clinical outcomes. Among non-survivors, 48% had hypertension and 24% had coronary artery disease, a much higher rate than the survivor pool.

“The data are very consistent with what I saw in the ICU ward of my hospital,” said Dr Zhou. “This is a matter of great concern for cardiologists.”

Dr Zhou also pointed out that 46% of non-survivors had elevated troponin levels, compared to just 1% of survivors, suggesting that high-sensitivity troponin testing can play an important role in clinical management of the disease.

Watch Dr Zhou’s presentation below (or click here to see the full webinar that includes additional presentations and a panel discussion of leading cardiologists from across Asia).

[1] Zhou. F., et al., 2020. Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study. The Lancet, 395(10229), pp.1054-1062