Project description:Cardiac manifestation of COVID-19 has been reported during the COVID pandemic. The role of cardiac arrhythmias in COVID-19 is insufficiently understood. This study assesses the incidence of cardiac arrhythmias and their prognostic implications in hospitalized COVID-19-patients. A total of 166 patients from eight centers who were hospitalized for COVID-19 from 03/2020-06/2020 were included. Medical records were systematically analyzed for baseline characteristics, biomarkers, cardiac arrhythmias and clinical outcome parameters related to the index hospitalization. Predisposing risk factors for arrhythmias were identified. Furthermore, the influence of arrhythmia on the course of disease and related outcomes was assessed using univariate and multiple regression analyses. Arrhythmias were detected in 20.5% of patients. Atrial fibrillation was the most common arrhythmia. Age and cardiovascular disease were predictors for new-onset arrhythmia. Arrhythmia was associated with a pronounced increase in cardiac biomarkers, prolonged hospitalization, and admission to intensive- or intermediate-care-units, mechanical ventilation and in-hospital mortality. In multiple regression analyses, incident arrhythmia was strongly associated with duration of hospitalization and mechanical ventilation. Cardiovascular disease was associated with increased mortality. Arrhythmia was the most common cardiac event in association with hospitalization for COVID-19. Older age and cardiovascular disease predisposed for arrhythmia during hospitalization. Whereas in-hospital mortality is affected by underlying cardiovascular conditions, arrhythmia during hospitalization for COVID-19 is independently associated with prolonged hospitalization and mechanical ventilation. Thus, incident arrhythmia may indicate a patient subgroup at risk for a severe course of disease.
Project description:Arrhythmias have been reported frequently in COVID-19 patients, but the incidence and nature have not been well characterized. Patients admitted with COVID-19 and monitored by telemetry were prospectively enrolled in the study. Baseline characteristics, hospital course, treatment and complications were collected from the patients' medical records. Telemetry was monitored to detect the incidence of cardiac arrhythmias. The incidence and types of cardiac arrhythmias were analyzed and compared between survivors and non-survivors. Among 143 patients admitted with telemetry monitoring, overall in-hospital mortality was 25.2% (36/143 patients) during the period of observation (mean follow-up 23.7 days). Survivors were less tachycardic on initial presentation (heart rate 90.6 ± 19.6 vs. 99.3 ± 23.1 bpm, p = 0.030) and had lower troponin (peak troponin 0.03 vs. 0.18 ng/ml. p = 0.004), C-reactive protein (peak C-reactive protein 97 vs. 181 mg/dl, p = 0.029), and interleukin-6 levels (peak interleukin-6 30 vs. 246 pg/ml, p = 0.003). Sinus tachycardia, the most common arrhythmia (detected in 39.9% [57/143] of patients), occurred more frequently in non-survivors (58.3% vs. 33.6% in survivors, p = 0.009). Premature ventricular complexes occurred in 28.7% (41/143), and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia in 15.4% (22/143) of patients, with no difference between survivors and non-survivors. Sustained ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation were not frequent (seen only in 1.4% and 0.7% of patients, respectively). Contrary to reports from other regions, overall mortality was higher and ventricular arrhythmias were infrequent in this hospitalized and monitored COVID-19 population. Either disease or management-related factors could explain this divergence of clinical outcomes, and should be urgently investigated.
Project description:The heterogeneity in symptomatology and phenotypic profile attributable to COVID-19 is widely unknown. For the first time, our study provides the unique advantage of obtaining samples from the Middle Eastern population, an underrepresented region in genetic studies, and explore new genotypes in this population that will yield to novel genetic association. Specifically, we studied 646 patients in the United Arab Emirates. We describe strong association signals from genes on chromosomes 2, 3, 5, 11 and 13, which carry genes that are expressed in the lung, have been associated with tumour progression, emphysema, airway obstruction, and surface tension within the lung. Identifying genetic variants associated to COVID-19 susceptibility and severity may uncover novel biological insights into disease pathogenesis and identify mechanistic targets for therapeutic and vaccine development.
Project description:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be asymptomatic or lead to a wide spectrum of symptoms, ranging from mild upper respiratory system involvement to acute respiratory distress syndrome, multi-organ damage and death. In this study, we explored the potential of microRNAs (miRNA) in delineating patient condition and in predicting clinical outcome. Analysis of the circulating miRNA profile of COVID-19 patients, sampled at different hospitalization intervals after admission, allowed to identify miR-144-3p as a dynamically regulated miRNA in response to COVID-19.
Project description:We developed three different protein arrays to measure IgG autoantibodies associated with Connective Tissue Diseases (CTDs), Anti-Cytokine Antibodies (ACA), and anti-viral antibody responses in 147 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in three different centers.
Project description:AimsMyocardial injury is frequently observed in patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. Different cardiac abnormalities have been reported during the acute COVID-19 phase, ranging from infra-clinic elevations of myocardial necrosis biomarkers to acute cardiac dysfunction and myocarditis. There is limited information on late cardiac sequelae in patients who have recovered from acute COVID-19 illness. We aimed to document the presence and quantify the extent of myocardial functional alterations in patients hospitalized 6 months earlier for COVID-19 infection.Methods and resultsWe conducted a prospective echocardiographic evaluation of 48 patients (mean age 58 ± 13 years, 69% male) hospitalized 6 ± 1 month earlier for a laboratory-confirmed and symptomatic COVID-19. Thirty-two (66.6%) had pre-existing cardiovascular risks factors (systemic hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidaemia), and three patients (6.2%) had a known prior myocardial infarction. Sixteen patients (33.3%) experienced myocardial injury during the index COVID-19 hospitalization as identified by a rise in cardiac troponin levels. Six months later, 60.4% of patients still reported clinical symptoms including exercise dyspnoea for 56%. Echocardiographic measurements under resting conditions were not different between patients with versus without myocardial injury during the acute COVID-19 phase. In contrast, low-level exercise (25W for 3 min) induced a significant increase in the average E/e' ratio (10.1 ± 4.3 vs. 7.3 ± 11.5, P = 0.01) and the systolic pulmonary artery pressure (33.4 ± 7.8 vs. 25.6 ± 5.3 mmHg, P = 0.02) in patients with myocardial injury during the acute COVID-19 phase. Sensitivity analyses showed that these alterations of left ventricular diastolic markers were observed regardless of whether of cardiovascular risk factors or established cardiac diseases indicating SARS-CoV-2 infection as a primary cause.ConclusionsSix months after the acute COVID-19 phase, significant cardiac diastolic abnormalities are observed in patients who experienced myocardial injury but not in patients without cardiac involvement.
Project description:We developed three different protein arrays to measure IgG autoantibodies associated with Connective Tissue Diseases (CTDs), Anti-Cytokine Antibodies (ACA), and anti-viral antibody responses in 147 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in three different centers.
Project description:We developed three different protein arrays to measure IgG autoantibodies associated with Connective Tissue Diseases (CTDs), Anti-Cytokine Antibodies (ACA), and anti-viral antibody responses in 147 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in three different centers.