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The main finding of a study recently published in
Spanish Journal of Cardiology (REC) was to detect the high incidence of cardiovascular events after admission for COVID-19: one in 16 patients suffered a cardiovascular event (MACE) in the first year after hospitalization and a third of these, during the first 30 days.
Major cardiovascular events include acute coronary syndrome, stroke, venous thromboembolic disease (VTE), hospitalization for heart failure or mortality due to cardiovascular causes.
About venous thromboembolic disease (VTE) was the earliest cardiovascular event, since 75% of cases occurred in the first 30 days after hospital discharge.
“Our objective was to analyze the cumulative incidence of major cardiovascular events (MACE) during the first year after hospitalization for Covid-19,” explains Martín Negreira Caamaño, one of the authors of the work.
To do this, a retrospective analysis was carried out of all patients discharged from hospitalization due to Covid-19 in a reference center between March 10 and May 4, 2020, and followed up until April 18, 2021. In total, a total of 673 patients with a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors: 30.3% were diabetics; 20.8% obese; and 17.9% smokers.
“The main finding was the high incidence of cardiovascular events after admission. One in 16 patients hospitalized for Covid-19 suffered some MACE in the first year after admission and a third of these, during the first 30 days, “says Negreira Caamaño.
The most frequent cardiovascular event during follow-up was hospitalization for heart failure, while venous thromboembolic disease was the earliest, especially in the form of pulmonary thromboembolism. Specifically, 75% of VTE cases occurred in the first 30 days and 62.5% were pulmonary thromboembolisms, all of them early after hospitalization.
These data contribute to emphasizing the association of Covid-19 with cardiovascular disease and lend plausibility to the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 acts as a modifying factor of cardiovascular disease, in a manner analogous to how other more studied agents interact. like the influenza virus.
However, the Negreira Caamaño concludes: «It is required more studies that delve into the long-term cardiovascular impact of the virus and that allow characterizing the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms.
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