Long-term impact of sepsis on cardiovascular health.

Abstract

Recent retrospective epidemiological studies demonstrated that new-onset cardiovascular disease is one of the most emerging issues among sepsis survivors. Sepsis incident may also accelerate cardiovascular dysfunction/disease existing prior to sepsis. This review summarizes recent key literature on long-term cardiovascular outcomes after sepsis and pneumonia, and highlights potential biologic and pathophysiologic mechanisms that contribute to long-term cardiovascular disease after a sepsis incident. Prospective pre-clinical and clinical studies are warranted to characterize cardiovascular dysfunction after sepsis, the role of chronic biologic sequelae in pathophysiology of post-sepsis cardiovascular disease, and design interventions to prevent and reduce long-term cardiovascular burden of sepsis.