COVID-19 can stop the heart, and a defibrillator may not help, study finds

Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians still emphasize that key symptoms include a dry cough, fever, and shortness of breath — no surprise for a virus that infects the lungs.Yet in the sickest patients, doctors keep finding collateral damage in the kidney, liver, and other organs. A new Penn Medicine study suggests that in rare cases, the coronavirus can even stop the heart.Among 700 COVID-19 patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, nine suffered a sudden cardiac arrest after being admitted, the study authors reported recently. Seven of the nine were under age 60.While...

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