COVID-19 News: Numerous Studies And Emerging Data Are Warning That Strokes And Heart Failures Are A Serious Threat For Post COVID Individuals!
COVID-19 News - Strokes - Heart Failures -Post-COVID Mar 06, 2023 1 year, 8 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, 12 hours, 24 minutes ago
COVID-19 News: Several studies have reported that patients who have recovered from COVID-19 are at a higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) such as heart attacks and strokes.
From previous studies and clinical reports, commonly occurring cardiovascular complications in COVID-19 patients include myocardial injury (21% of patients), arrhythmia (10.4% of patients), and heart failure (2.8% of patients).
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35507278/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32494896/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32920964/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32998872/
Over time, these symptoms may persist and develop into a variety of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) sequelae in the long-term.
A recent study by Chinese and Hong Kong researchers published in January 2023 in the peer reviewed journal: Cardiovascular Research concluded that COVID-19 infection, including long-COVID, is associated with increased short- and long-term risks of Cardiovascular disease and mortality.
https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cvr/cvac195/6987834?login=false
The study showed that in the acute phase, patients with COVID-19 (n = 7584) were associated with a significantly higher short-term risk of CVD {hazard ratio (HR): 4.3 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.6– 6.9]; HR: 5.0 (95% CI: 3.0–8.1)} and all-cause mortality [HR: 81.1 (95% CI: 58.5–112.4); HR: 67.5 (95% CI: 49.9–91.1)] than the contemporary (n = 75 790) and historical controls (n = 75 774), respectively. Regarding the post-acute phase, patients with COVID-19 (n = 7139) persisted with a significantly higher risk of CVD in the long-term [HR: 1.4 (95% CI: 1.2–1.8); HR: 1.3 (95% CI: 1.1– 1.6)] and all-cause mortality [HR: 5.0 (95% CI: 4.3–5.8); HR: 4.5 (95% CI: 3.9–5.2) compared to the contemporary (n = 71 296) and historical controls (n = 71 314), respectively.
The study also showed that a ∼7.5-fold increased risk is associated with atrial fibrillation or AF (possibly explaining the ∼10-fold associated risk of stroke and a five-fold risk of heart failure, since AF is independently associated with both) and a ∼22-fold risk is associated with Deep vein thrombosis or DVT during the acute phase; in the post-acute phase the emergence of a ∼five-fold increased risk associated with pericarditis and superficial vein thrombosis, in addition to the persistent (but reduced from acute phase) ∼1.5-fold risk of DVT, is observed.
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Consistent with this study, previous studies also report higher risks of these outcomes in association with COVID-19. Hospitalized infected patients (age ≥ 18) were at higher odds for the onset of AF over COVID-19-negative patients [odds ratio (OR): 1.19 (95% CI: 1.00–1.1)], with AF being proposed as a strong predictor of in-hospital all-cause mortality [HR: 1.405 (95% CI: 1.027–1.992)].
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35835807/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36009487/
Patients with COVID-19 were associated with a five-fold increased risk of DVT 30 days post diagnosis (acute phase) and up to 3 months post recovery, persisting even after 1 year of recovery [HR: 2.09 (95% CI: 1.94–2.24)]
Systemic inflammation and consequent endothelial damage are believed to underlie development of pericardial complications, including pericarditis, also demonstrated to be persistent up till at least a year post recovery [HR: 1.85 (95% CI: 1.61–2.13)].
https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj-2021-069590
A more interesting study published by Dr Ziyad Al-Aly and colleagues from Washington University in February 2022, analyzed data from nearly 154,000 patients with COVID-19 (median age 60, 90% male) from the US Department of Veteran Affairs, along with two control groups of over 5 million people each.
The study found a 1.7-fold risk of heart attack and a 1.6-fold increased risk of stroke, among other adverse outcomes, for COVID-19 patients compared to controls. Importantly, the study focused on events occurring 30 days or more after infection.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35132265/’
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/warning-two-new-studies-find-that-all-exposed-to-sars-cov-2-are-at-high-risk-of-developing-heart-issues-up-to-a-year-or-longer-after-infection
Another study conducted by Taiwanese and Chinese researchers involved metanalysis of data from nearly 700,000 COVID-19 patients and a control group of 2.25 million people without COVID-19, of whom there were matched controls by propensity analysis for the people who had COVID-19.
The study found similar results to Al-Aly's study, with a 1.6-fold increased risk of stroke, a 2-fold higher risk of acute coronary disease, and other adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35971425/
A new published on the 3rd of March 2023 by researchers from Elevance Health, Inc, Indiana-USA involving a private insurance claims database compared 13,345 individuals with COVID-19 to 26,870 controls without COVID-19.
The study found a 2-fold increase in stroke risk, >2-fold increase in all-cause mortality, and other major cardiovascular outcomes, including pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis.
The study accounted for differences in risk factors pre-COVID-19 and included patients who had not been vaccinated.
All these study findings are consistent with a yet another recent study conducted by Chinese and Taiwanese researchers on the entire US population through March 2022, which focused on cardiovascular deaths.
The report demonstrated an excess of cardiovascular deaths throughout the first five waves of the US pandemic, occurring well past each of the surges. Over 90,000 more cardiovascular deaths were recorded than expected.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44161-023-00220-2
While these studies have limitations and biases, the consistency in their findings is significant. COVID-19 has been associated with an excess of heart attacks and strokes beyond the first month of infection and also in the long term after recovery. (Spanning months and years even!)
Already we are seeing numerus daily
COVID-19 News coverages of various people dying suddenly from heart failures and strokes despite not having any existing comorbidities and seemingly healthy.
The key take away is that it is crucial to avoid contracting COVID-19 or getting reinfected.
Even though many of the newer SARS-CoV-2 sub-lineages in circulation are seemingly mild or even asymptomatic upon infection, the damage that they can cause and the risk of fatality that they can contribute to is alarming!
For the latest
COVID-19 News, keep on logging to Thailand Medical News.
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