The exact prevalence and impact of cardiac injury in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is still controversial. Hence, we aim to investigate prevalence of cardiac injury and its impact on the outcomes in patients with COVID‐19.

Cardiac injury is common and associated with higher risk of death.

We searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, MedRxiv, and EMBASE databases from December 2019 to July 15, 2020 for studies that evaluated the prevalence and impact of cardiac injury on COVID‐19. This study has been registered with PROSPERO (International prospective register of systematic reviews)‐registration number‐CRD‐42020186120.

Twenty‐one studies including 6297 participants were identified. The proportions of cardiac injury were 22%, 28% among hospitalized patients with COVID‐19 or severe COVID‐19 patients, respectively. The incidences of cardiac injury in advance age (>60 years) (30%) was about two‐fold than young patients (<60 years) (15%) with COVID‐19. Severe cases (42%) have seven‐fold prevalence cardiac injury than in their non‐ severe counterparts (6%). Furthermore, cardiac injury is associated with an increased risk of all‐cause mortality in patients with COVID‐19 (OR 10.11, 95% CI 4.49–22.77). In patients with severe COVID‐19, cardiac injury is associated with an increased risk of all‐cause mortality (OR: 16.79, 95% CI: 5.52–51.02).

This was the first meta‐analysis exploring the prevalence and impact of cardiac injury on COVID‐19. Cardiac injury is common in hospitalized patients and advanced age and severe COVID‐19 patients prone to experience more risk of cardiac injury. Furthermore, cardiac injury is associated with increased risk of all‐cause mortality.