Reproductive History in Takotsubo Syndrome, A Register-Based Cohort Study.

Background: Takotsubo syndrome (TS) is a recently recognized serious heart condition that mainly affects women. Despite that 80-90% of the patients are women, few studies have focused on sex-specific characteristics such as female sex hormones and reproductive history. The aim of the study was to compare reproductive history in patients with TS with controls. Methods: This register-based cohort study compared reproductive history and off-spring birth characteristics between 158 TS patients without coronary artery stenoses and 236 age- and sex-matched controls (C) with coronary artery stenoses because of acute coronary syndrome (ACS-C), respectively, 285 without coronary artery stenoses with chest pain (CP-C). Results: There were no differences in pregnancy complications between TS and CP-C. Gestational length did not differ, but infants born to TS patients had lower birth weight for gestational age than CP-C with an odds ratio of 1.7 (95% confidence interval 1.2-2.5) for infants born small. Conclusion: The results showing an association between birth weight for gestational age and TS later in life are hypothesis-generating. The association is not likely causal and before delivery of small for gestational age infants can be considered as a risk marker for TS later in life the results need to be confirmed in independent studies.

Risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure among hospital healthcare workers in relation to patient contact and type of care

AimWe aimed to assess the risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in a large cohort of healthcare workers (HCWs). MethodsFrom May 11 until June 11, 2020, 3,981 HCWs at a large Swedish Emergency Care hospital provided serum samples and questionnaire data. Exposure was measured by assaying IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. ResultsThe total seroprevalence was 17.7% and increased during the study period. Among the seropositive HCWs, 10.5% had been entirely asymptomatic. Participants who worked with COVID-19 patients had higher odds for seropositivity: ORadj 1.96 (95% CI 1.59 - 2.42). HCWs from three of the departments managing COVID-19 patients had significantly higher seroprevalences, whereas the prevalence among HCWs from the Intensive Care Unit (also managing COVID-19 patients) was significantly lower. ConclusionHCWs in contact with SARS-CoV-2 infected patients had a variable, but on average higher, likelihood for SARS-CoV-2 infections.