Impact of Hyperglycemia on Cardiovascular Events and Clinical Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 Pneumonia.

OBJECTIVE: To study cardiovascular events and clinical outcomes in patients with elevated glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and/or admission hyperglycemia and those with type 2 diabetes hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. METHODS: This was a multicenter retrospective study of 1645 patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia required a positive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction result for SARS-CoV-2, presence of new or worsening pulmonary infiltrates on computed tomography scan or chest x-ray, and at least one of following: (1) new or increased cough, (2) temperature of >37.8 °C, or (3) dyspnea. Outcomes included in-hospital cardiovascular events, intensive care unit admission, and mortality. Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for association of elevated HbA1c levels and/or admission hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes for individual outcomes. RESULTS: Among 1645 adults hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, 18 with type 1 diabetes were excluded from the analysis. Of 1627 adults, 634 (39%) had known diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, and among 993 patients with no diabetes, 107 (10.8%) patients were identified with elevated HbA1c levels and/or admission hyperglycemia. Patients with elevated HbA1c levels and/or admission hyperglycemia had increased odds of developing acute in-hospital cardiovascular events (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.07-2.80), intensive care unit admissions (OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.10-2.34), and mortality (OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.02-3.07) compared to patients with type 2 diabetes and no diabetes. CONCLUSION: Patients with elevated HbA1c levels and/or admission hyperglycemia hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia have increased risk of developing acute in-hospital cardiovascular complications and overall poor clinical outcomes compared with patients with type 2 diabetes and no diabetes.

P014. Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Events In Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19

Background Between 25%-50% of patients hospitalized with (COVID-19) suffer cardiovascular events. Limited information is available to identify those at greatest risk for cardiac complications. Objectives Objectives were to analyze risk factors associated with cardiovascular events (CE);analyze whether risk factors and outcomes were influenced by race;and analyze survival differences among various groups. Methods This retrospective cohort study of 700 inpatients with COVID-19 was conducted at nine hospitals within a large urban midwestern city. Data was collected from March 9, 2020, to June 20, 2020. Inclusion criteria included all COVID-19 inpatients and excluded non-inpatients. Predictor variables included demographics, comorbidities, and current clinical data. The outcomes were heart failure (HF), deep-vein thrombosis, myocardial infarction, pulmonary edema, stroke, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, reduced ejection fraction, cardiac arrhythmias, cardiogenic shock, and cardiac arrest. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the correlation between different variables. Multiple logistics regression analyses were conducted to examine which variables predict cardiovascular events for the entire cohort, African American patients, and white patients, respectively. Mann-Whitney U, Chi-square, or Fisher's exact tests were used to examine differences in groups with and without CE and Kaplan-Meier was conducted for survival comparisons between groups. Results Of 700 COVID-19 positive inpatients, 126 experienced cardiovascular events and 574 did not. The incidence of cardiovascular events in our sample population was 18%. As shown in Table 1, we found the following factors were highly associated with the odds of new-onset of CEs: advanced age in years, males, non-Hispanic African American, presence of comorbidities, and decreased saturation levels. Numerous laboratory values were significantly associated with the risk of CEs (Table 1). African Americans had greater odds of CEs in the presence of diabetes and cardiovascular comorbidities (p=0.008, p=0.014, respectively). However, multiple logistics analysis was used to examine the joint effect of the risk factors which suggested that lower serum albumin and neoplastic/immune compromised diseases count were highly associated with CEs for African American COVID-19 inpatients (p=0.001, p=0.044, respectively). SaO2/FiO2 ratio and cardiovascular comorbidities were significantly associated with CEs for white inpatients (p=<0.001, p=0.007, respectively). As shown in Figure 1, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed inpatients with CEs had a much higher mortality rate than those without CEs (45.2% vs. 8.7%). Median survival for patients with CEs was 18 days as opposed to 100 days for those that did not experience CEs. African Americans with CEs experienced higher mortality than those without CEs (43.9% vs. 7.8%). White COVID-19 inpatients' mortality rates were 46.3% and 9.0% for those with and without CEs, respectively. Of the 126 COVID-19 inpatients who had a CE, 14.3% had cardiac arrhythmias and 8.7% had new onset of HF diagnoses, and 4.8% had acute myocardial infarctions. Conclusion Multiple risk factors for CEs and death were identified in this sample of hospitalized patients with COVID-19, and mortality was increased significantly in those inpatients who had CEs. HF, cardiac arrhythmia, and acute myocardial infarction were the most frequently cited CEs implicating the need for long-term follow-up.

Is Microthrombosis the Main Pathology in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Severity?-A Systematic Review of the Postmortem Pathologic Findings.

This systematic review attempts to retrieve and report the findings of postmortem studies including the histopathologic data of deceased coronavirus disease 2019 patients and to review the manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019-associated thrombotic pathologies reported in the recent literature. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database, and Cochrane library between December 1, 2019, and August 26, 2020. STUDY SELECTION: Investigators screened 360 unique references, retrieved published autopsy series, and report on the postmortem histopathologic information on patients who had died of coronavirus disease 2019. DATA EXTRACTION: Investigators independently abstracted all available data including study design, participant demographics, key histopathologic findings, disease severity markers, duration of hospital stay, and cause of death. DATA SYNTHESIS: From the 65 eligible studies, 691 total completed autopsies were included in evidence synthesis. Histopathologic evaluation of the lungs revealed presence of diffuse alveolar damage in 323 of 443 patients and pulmonary microthrombi in 242 of 326 patients. Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism were found in 41% and ~15%, respectively, of the cadavers examined for thromboembolic events. d-dimer levels were generally higher in patients with severe clinical course of coronavirus disease 2019. Plasma levels of ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase, interleukin-6, and C-reactive protein were higher in nonsurvivors when compared with survivors. Overall, microthrombi and extensive angiogenesis of lung vasculature were the most common pathologic findings in the lungs and microthrombi in most of the assessed organ-tissue. CONCLUSIONS: Diffuse alveolar damage was the most predominant feature in the lungs of coronavirus disease 2019 patients who underwent postmortem assessment. Widespread pulmonary microthrombosis and extensive pulmonary angiogenesis, in addition to frequent pulmonary and extrapulmonary microthrombotic and thromboembolic findings in patients with coronavirus disease 2019, appear to be consistent with the disease-specific hypercoagulability. Further discovery efforts in assessing the link between coronavirus disease 2019, hypercoagulable state, and immunothrombosis are warranted. In the interim, increased attention to anticoagulant treatment approaches in coronavirus disease 2019 patients is needed.

Outcomes and Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Events in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze outcomes and risk factors of cardiovascular events in a metropolitan coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) database, and to perform a subgroup analysis in African American populations to determine whether outcomes and risk factors are influenced by race. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort analysis from March 9, 2020 to June 20, 2020. SETTING: Population-based study in Louisville, KY, USA. PARTICIPANTS: Seven hundred adult inpatients hospitalized with COVID-19. INTERVENTIONS: N/A. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: This cohort consisted of 126 patients (18%) with cardiovascular events and 574 patients without cardiovascular events. Patients with cardiovascular events had a much higher mortality rate than those without cardiovascular events (45.2% v 8.7%, p < 0.001). There was no difference between African American and white patients regarding mortality (43.9% v 46.3%, p = 1) and length of stay for survivors (11 days v 9.5 days, p = 0.301). Multiple logistics regression analysis suggested that male, race, lower SaO2/FIO2, higher serum potassium, lower serum albumin, and number of cardiovascular comorbidities were highly associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events in COVID-19 patients. Lower serum albumin and neoplastic and/or immune-compromised diseases were highly associated with cardiovascular events for African American COVID-19 patients. SaO2/FIO2 ratio and cardiovascular comorbidity count were significantly associated with cardiovascular events in white patients. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiovascular events were prevalent and associated with worse outcomes in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Outcomes of cardiovascular events in African American and white COVID-19 patients were similar after propensity score matching analysis. There were common and unique risk factors for cardiovascular events in African American COVID-19 patients when compared with white patients.