1054:  Meta-analysis evaluates impact of cardiovascular risk profile on COVID-19 outcome

1. Patients with COVID-19 with cardiovascular comorbidities or risk factors have higher odds of developing cardiovascular complications while hospitalized for COVID-19 and have a higher mortality risk, suggests a study published in PLOS One.
2.  Investigators from Italy assessed data from 21 published observational studies on 77,317 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in Asia, Europe, and the United States. 
3.  Mean age was 48.4±18.5 and 40.41% of the hospitalized patients were females.
4.    About 12.89% had cardiovascular comorbidities, 36.08% had hypertension, and 19.45% had diabetes.
5.    Nearly 10.74% of the patients were smokers, while 33.78% had obesity.
6. Coronary artery disease and heart failure were reported in 11.67% and 9.35% of patients, respectively, at presentation.
7.    Around 5.30% had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 
8. Cardiovascular complications were noted during hospital stay among 14.09% of patients. The most common were arrhythmias (18.40%) and myocardial injury (10.34%).
9. Pre-existing cardiovascular comorbidities or risk factors significantly predicted cardiovascular complications (P = .019).
10. Age (P < .001), pre-existing cardiovascular comorbidities or risk factors (P < .001) and the development of cardiovascular complications during COVID-19 period (P = .038) were found to be the significant predictors of death. [PLOS One]

Dr KK Aggarwal

President CMAAO, HCFI and Past National President IMA