From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was that known the disease affected the lungs. But some of the most severe damage to the body can be to the heart muscle. COVID-related myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, can cause severe damage and sometimes death.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Leslie Cooper, chair of Cardiology at Mayo Clinic in Florida, discusses how COVID-19 affects the heart in hospitalized patients, in young people and he identifies areas of research that need to be pursued in the near future.