ABSTRACT
Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 infection has been associated with new-onset arrhythmias. Newonset tachyarrhythmias including atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and ventricular tachycardias (VT) have been reported from different retrospective studies. It is proposed that new-onset arrhythmias are likely associated with systemic illness, and not only triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that patients who were admitted to the ICU/CCU level of care were more likely to have new-onset tachyarrhythmias vs hospitalized patients who were not admitted to the ICU/CCU. Methods: This is a multi-center retrospective study. The RT-PCR confirmed adult COVID-19 patients consecutively admitted from March 1st to April 30, 2020, were included. Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and the onset of new arrhythmias were manually extracted from EMR. Categorical variables are shown in percentages;continuous variables are shown in mean (SD). Data were extracted manually using the hospital's electronic medical record. Categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test;continuous variables were compared using the t-test (with equal variance assumption). P-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 720 patients were admitted to the hospital. Of these, 11% had new-onset tachyarrhythmias. The onset of new tachyarrhythmias was significantly high in patients who were admitted to ICU/CCU vs non-ICU setting (p-value, <0.001). 13% of patients admitted to ICU/CCU developed new-onset atrial fibrillation vs 7% in the non-ICU setting. 1.5% developed new-onset atrial flutter in ICU/CCU setting vs 1% in the non-ICU setting. Incidence of VT and VF were also higher in ICU/CCU settings. Table1 Conclusions: Patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19 and received ICU/CCU level care were more likely to develop new-onset tachyarrhythmias.