Association of Interleukin-32 and Interleukin-34 with Cardiovascular Disease and Short-Term Mortality in COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Excess cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality has been observed in patients with COVID-19. Both interleukin-32 (IL-32) and interleukin-34 (IL-34) have been hypothesized to contribute to CV involvement in COVID-19. METHODS: This prospective, observational study of patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection was conducted from 6 June to 22 December 2020 in a tertiary care hospital in Vienna, Austria. IL-32 and IL-34 levels on admission were collected and tested for their association with CV disease and short-term mortality in patients with COVID-19. CV disease was defined by the presence of coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke or atrial fibrillation and patients were stratified by CV disease burden. RESULTS: A total of 245 eligible patients with COVID-19 were included, of whom 37 (15.1%) reached the primary endpoint of 28-day mortality. Of the total sample, 161 had no CV disease (65.7%), 69 had one or two CV diseases (28.2%) and 15 patients had ≥three CV diseases (6.1%). Median levels of IL-32 and IL-34 at admission were comparable across the three groups of CV disease burden. IL-32 and IL-34 failed to predict mortality upon both univariable and multivariable Cox regression analysis. The two CV disease groups, however, had a significantly higher risk of mortality within 28 days (one or two CV diseases: crude HR 4.085 (95% CI, 1.913-8.725), p < 0.001 and ≥three CV diseases: crude HR 13.173 (95% CI, 5.425-31.985), p < 0.001). This association persisted for those with ≥three CV diseases after adjustment for age, gender and CV risk factors (adjusted HR 3.942 (95% CI, 1.288-12.068), p = 0.016). CONCLUSION: In our study population of hospitalized patients with COVID-19, IL-32 and IL-34 did not show any associations with CV disease or 28-day mortality in the context of COVID-19. Patients with multiple CV diseases, however, had a significantly increased risk of short-term mortality.

Direct cardiovascular complications and indirect collateral damage during the COVID-19 pandemic : A review.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), puts a heavy strain on healthcare systems around the globe with high numbers of infected patients. Pre-existing cardiovascular disease is a major risk factor for a severe clinical course of COVID-19 and is associated with adverse outcome. COVID-19 may directly exacerbate underlying heart disease and is frequently aggravated by cardiovascular complications, including arterial and venous thromboembolic events, malignant arrhythmia and myocardial injury. In addition to these direct cardiac manifestations of COVID-19, patients with cardiovascular disease face further indirect consequences of the pandemic, as the respective resources in the healthcare systems need to be redirected to cope with the high numbers of infected patients. Consecutively, a substantial decrease in cardiac procedures was reported during the pandemic with lower numbers of coronary angiographies and device implantations worldwide. As a consequence an increased number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, late-comers with subacute myocardial infarction and of patients presenting in cardiogenic shock or preshock were observed. Maintenance of high-quality cardiac care by avoiding a reduction of cardiac services is of utmost importance, especially in times of a pandemic.

Biomarkers Associated with Cardiovascular Disease in COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) emerged late December 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China and has since spread rapidly all over the world causing a global pandemic. While the respiratory system is the primary target of disease manifestation, COVID-19 has been shown to also affect several other organs, making it a rather complex, multi-system disease. As such, cardiovascular involvement has been a topic of discussion since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily due to early reports of excessive myocardial injury in these patients. Treating physicians are faced with multiple challenges in the management and early triage of patients with COVID-19, as disease severity is highly variable ranging from an asymptomatic infection to critical cases rapidly deteriorating to intensive care treatment or even fatality. Laboratory biomarkers provide important prognostic information which can guide decision making in the emergency department, especially in patients with atypical presentations. Several cardiac biomarkers, most notably high-sensitive cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), have emerged as valuable predictors of prognosis in patients with COVID-19. The purpose of this review was to offer a concise summary on prognostic cardiac biomarkers in COVID-19 and discuss whether routine measurements of these biomarkers are warranted upon hospital admission.