One in 16 hospitalized for COVID-19 suffers a cardiovascular event in the first year after being hospitalized

A study recently published in the ‘Revista Española de Cardiología (REC)’ has reinforced the association of COVID-19 with cardiovascular disease, concluding that one out of every 16 hospitalized patients suffers a major cardiovascular event (MACE) in the first year after admission and a third of these during the first 30 days.

“Our objective was to analyze the cumulative incidence of major cardiovascular events during the first year after a hospitalization for COVID-19”, explains Dr. Martín Negreira Caamaño, one of the authors of the work.

To do this, a retrospective analysis of all patients with COVID-19 in a referral center was performed between March 10 and May 4, 2020, and follow-up was performed until April 18, 2021.

In total, 673 patients with a high prevalence of f were included in the analysis: 30.3% were diabetic; 20.8% obese; and 17.9% smokers.

Major cardiovascular events (MACE) include acute coronary syndrome, stroke, venous thromboembolic disease (VTE), hospitalization for heart failure, or cardiovascular mortality.

“The main finding was the high incidence of cardiovascular events after admission. One in 16 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 suffered some MACE in the first year after admission and a third of these, ”, details Dr. Negreira Caamaño.

The most frequent cardiovascular event during follow-up was hospitalization for heart failure, while venous thromboembolic disease was the earliest, especially in the form of pulmonary thromboembolism.

Specifically, 75% of VTE cases occurred in the first 30 days and 62.5% were pulmonary thromboembolisms, all of them early after hospitalization.

These data contribute to emphasizing the association of COVID-19 with cardiovascular disease and lend plausibility to the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 acts as , in a manner analogous to how other more studied agents such as the Influenza virus interact.

However, Dr. Negreira Caamaño points out that “Further studies are required to delve into the long-term cardiovascular impact of the virus and to characterize the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms”.