The risk of occurrence of ventricular tachycardia within 6 months of discharge is increased 16-folds among patients hospitalized with severe Covid-19 compared to patients who do not have severe infection, according to new research presented at EHRA 2023, the annual conference of the European Heart Rhythm Association.¹

For this study, the researchers identified 3023 Covid-19 survivors who required mechanical ventilation during their stay in the ICU between March 2020 and June 2021 from the Swedish ICU register. They were matched by age, sex and area of residence with 28,463 controls selected from the general population. The average age of the participant was 62 years; 30% were women. Hospitalization with ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, other tachyarrhythmias or bradycardia/pacemaker implantation was the primary outcome of the study. The average follow-up duration was 9 months.

The incidence rate of ventricular tachycardia in patients with severe Covid-19 was 15.4 per 1,000 person-years compared to 0.9 in the control group. The incidence rates for atrial fibrillation, other tachyarrhythmias, and bradycardia/pacemaker implantation were 78.4 (vs 6.0), 99.3 (vs 6.7) and 8.5 (vs 0.9), respectively. After adjusting for factors that are known to be associated with disorders of heart rhythm such as age, sex, diabetes, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, chronic kidney disease and socioeconomic status.

Patients with severe Covid-19 necessitating mechanical ventilation had 16 times higher risk of ventricular tachycardia. The risk of atrial fibrillation was increased 13 times, other tachyarrhythmias 14 times, while the risk of bradycardia/pacemaker implantation was increased 9 times.

This study highlights the high incidence of new-onset arrhythmias in Covid-19 patients. Hence patients who are discharged after surviving severe Covid-19 should be instructed to promptly visit the hospital if they have palpitations or irregular beating of the heart.

Reference

1. https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/severe-covid-19-linked-with-16-fold-risk-of-life-threatening-heart-rhythm-within, April 18, 2023. Accessed on May 6, 2023.