A study in almost 160,000 participants published today in Cardiovascular Research, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), found that compared to uninfected people, COVID-19 patients were up to 81 times more likely to die. in the first three weeks of infection and remained five times higher up to 18 months later.
This study compared the occurrence of cardiovascular disease and death in infected and uninfected people recruited before December 2020, when no vaccines were available. Each patient was matched with up to 10 people without COVID-19 during the study period (March 16, 2020 through end of follow-up on August 31, 2021) and a historical pre-pandemic cohort (March 16, 2018 to November 30). , 2018).
Each uninfected group had more than 70,000 participants who were similar to the COVID-19 group in terms of age, gender, smoking status, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular and other diseases, body mass index, ethnicity, and deprivations. In all three groups, the average age was 66 years and there were almost the same number of women and men.
Data were collected from death and medical records for outcomes including major cardiovascular disease (a combination of heart failure, stroke, and coronary artery disease); numerous cardiovascular conditions such as stroke, atrial fibrillation, and myocardial infarction; death from cardiovascular disease; and all causes of death. Associations were assessed for the acute phase (within 21 days of COVID-19 diagnosis) and the post-acute phase (starting 22 days after diagnosis and continuing up to 18 months). Participants with a history of a particular outcome were excluded from that analysis.
Compared with the two uninfected cohorts, patients with COVID-19 were approximately four times more likely to develop major cardiovascular disease in the acute phase and 40% more likely in the post-acute phase. Compared with uninfected people, the risk of death in patients with COVID-19 was up to 81 times higher in the acute phase and five times higher in the post-acute phase. Patients with severe COVID-19 were more likely to develop major cardiovascular disease or die than non-severe cases.
COVID-19 patients were more likely to experience various cardiovascular conditions compared to uninfected participants in both the short and long term, including myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and deep vein thrombosis. The risks of some cardiovascular conditions, for example stroke and atrial fibrillation, were increased in COVID-19 patients in the short term, but then returned to normal levels.
This study was conducted during the first wave of the pandemic, and future research should evaluate subsequent outbreaks.