Comparison of the clinical characteristics and outcomes of Japanese patients with COVID-19 treated in primary, secondary, and tertiary care facilities.

AIM: To compare the characteristics and clinical course of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) according to the healthcare level of the admitted hospital, to provide an insight into determining the appropriate level of care for each patient. METHODS: This retrospective, observational study utilized data from the COVID-19 Registry Japan (COVIREGI-JP), the largest Japanese registry of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Datasets were obtained from reports filed as of May 31, 2022. RESULTS: A total of 59,707 patients (2004 in the primary care group, 41,420 in the secondary care group, and 16,283 in the tertiary care group) from 585 facilities were included in the analysis. Patients with established risk factors for severe disease, such as old age and the presence of comorbidities, were treated at higher care facilities and had poorer initial conditions and in-hospital clinical course, as well as higher mortality. Analysis of the fatality rates for each complication suggested that patients with complications requiring procedures (e.g. pleural effusions, myocardial ischemia, and arrhythmia) may have better survival rates in facilities with specialist availability. The number of deaths and severe COVID-19 cases in this study were notably less than those reported overseas. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that more difficult COVID-19 cases with poor outcomes were treated at higher care level facilities in Japan. Attending to possible complications may be useful for selecting an appropriate treatment hospital. Healthcare providers need to maintain a broad perspective on the distribution of medical resources.

Cardiovascular considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic: A focused review for practice in Japan.

The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to have drastic consequences for patients, healthcare workers, and the health system. Its cardiovascular implications have been well described in previous studies, but original reports from Japan are sparse. Validating overseas findings in the Japanese clinical settings is crucial to improve local COVID-19 care and to clarify the pandemic's impacts in the country. This review of available literature demonstrates that in Japanese patients and clinical settings too, there is a close relationship between COVID-19 and the cardiovascular system including cardiovascular complications. On the contrary, secondary effects on cardiovascular practice including service disruptions, telemedicine, and epidemiological changes in Japan have been relatively small.

Cardiovascular implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly emerged as one of the biggest public health concerns of the 21st century. Although it was initially reported as a cluster of pneumonia cases, it quickly became apparent that COVID-19 is not merely a respiratory tract infection. Its clinical course is often complicated by cardiovascular manifestations including venous and arterial thrombosis, electrical disturbances, and myocardial damage. In addition, the cardiovascular system is involved not only during infection but also preceding the contraction of the virus; having cardiovascular comorbidities indicates significant vulnerability to the pathogen. As longer-term data continue to accumulate, we now have concerns over its lasting cardiovascular effects after recovery. Moreover, there have been substantial collateral effects on the epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases. Reports of adverse cardiovascular events from vaccination have emerged as new hurdles to our efforts to bring an end to the pandemic. As such, the association between COVID-19 and the cardiovascular system and cardiovascular practice in general is expansive. In this review, we provide an overview of the knowledge and considerations in this field, based on the evidence available at the time of this writing.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidence and characteristics of pulmonary embolism.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected presentations of conditions unrelated to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection itself. We investigated the pandemic's effect on incidence and characteristics of pulmonary embolism (PE) cases without the infection. We retrospectively compared non-COVID PE patients during January 16-August 31, 2020 (COVID period) with PE patients during the same period in 2017-2019 (Pre-COVID period). The number of out-of-hospital onset cases was significantly higher during the pandemic than during each of the pre-COVID years. Also, the patients in the COVID period were older, more likely to be free of thrombotic predispositions, had higher mortality risks of PE, and were more likely to arrive at the hospital on emergency transport. Sedentary lifestyles during the pandemic seem to have had considerable effects on presentations of PE.