COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular comorbidities or risk factors are more likely to develop cardiovascular complications while hospitalized, and more likely to die from COVID-19 infection, according to a new study published August 14, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jolanda Sabatino of Universita degli Studi Magna Graecia di Catanzaro, Italy, and colleagues.
For most people, the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes mild illness, however it can generate severe pneumonia and lead to death in others. It is crucial for clinicians working with cardiovascular patients to understand the clinical presentation and risk factors for COVID-19 infection in this group.
In the new study, researchers analyzed data from 21 published observational studies on a total of 77,317 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Asia, Europe and the United States. At the time they were admitted to the hospital, 12.89% (95% CI 8.24-18.32) of the patients had cardiovascular comorbidities, 36.08% (95% CI 20.25-53.64) had hypertension and 19.45% (95% CI 12.55-27.45) had diabetes.
Cardiovascular complications were documented during the hospital stay of 14.09% (95% CI 10.26-20.23) of the COVID-19 patients. The most common of these complications were arrhythmias or palpitations; significant numbers of patients also had myocardial injury. When the researchers analyzed the data, they found that pre-existing cardiovascular comorbidities or risk factors were significant predictors of cardiovascular complications (p=0.019), but age (p=0.197) and gender (p=0.173) were not. Both age and pre-existing cardiovascular comorbidities or risk factors were significant predictors of death.
The authors add: “Cardiovascular complications are frequent among COVID-19 patients and might contribute to adverse clinical events and mortality.”
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
About PLOS ONE
PLOS ONE is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed open access journal that publishes sound science from all fields of scientific research. For more information, visit http://journals.plos.org/ploso
Media and Copyright Information
For information about PLOS ONE relevant to journalists, bloggers and press officers, including details of our press release process and embargo policy, visit http://journals.plos.org/ploso
PLOS Journals publish under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits free reuse of all materials published with the article, so long as the work is cited.
About the Public Library of Science
Public Library of Science (PLOS) is a nonprofit Open Access publisher, innovator and advocacy organization dedicated to accelerating progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication. The PLOS suite of journals contain rigorously peer-reviewed Open Access research articles from all areas of science and medicine, together with expert commentary and analysis. In addition to journals, the organization advances innovations in scientific publishing through Collections, Communities and The PLOS Blog Network. Founded to catalyze a revolution in scientific publishing by demonstrating the value and feasibility of Open Access publication, PLOS is committed to innovative and forward-looking solutions to scientific communication. For more information, visit http://www.plos.org.
Original post https://alertarticles.info
