Higher Incidence of Stroke in Severe COVID-19 Is Not Associated With a Higher Burden of Arrhythmias: Comparison With Other Types of Severe Pneumonia
Higher Incidence of Stroke in Severe COVID-19 Is Not Associated With a Higher Burden of Arrhythmias: Comparison With Other Types of Severe Pneumonia
Blog Article
Aims: Thromboembolic events, including stroke, are typical complications of COVID-19.Whether arrhythmias, frequently described in severe COVID-19, are disease-specific and thus promote strokes is unclear.We investigated the occurrence of arrhythmias and stroke during rhythm monitoring in critically ill patients with COVID-19, compared with severe pneumonia of other origins.
Methods and Results: This retrospective study included 120 critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation glove in three European tertiary hospitals, including n =60 COVID-19, matched according to risk factors for the occurrence of arrhythmias in n = 60 patients from a retrospective consecutive cohort of severe pneumonia of other origins.Arrhythmias, mainly atrial fibrillation (AF), were frequent in COVID-19.However, when compared with non-COVID-19, no difference was observed with respect to ventricular tachycardias (VT) and relevant bradyarrhythmias (VT 10.
0 vs.8.4 %, p = ns and asystole 5.
0 vs.3.3%, p = ns) with consequent similar rates of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (6.
7 vs.10.0%, p = ns).
AF was even more common in non-COVID-19 (AF 18.3 vs.43.
3%, p = 0.003; newly onset AF 10.0 vs.
30.0%, p Gooseneck Pot = 0.006), which resulted in a higher need for electrical cardioversion (6.
7 vs.20.0%, p = 0.
029).Despite these findings and comparable rates of therapeutic anticoagulation (TAC), the incidence of stroke was higher in COVID-19 (6.7.
% vs.0.0, p = 0.
042).These events also happened in the absence of AF (50%) and with TAC (50%).Conclusions: Arrhythmias were common in severe COVID-19, consisting mainly of AF, yet less frequent than in matched pneumonia of other origins.
A contrasting higher incidence of stroke independent of arrhythmias also observed with TAC, seems to be an arrhythmia-unrelated disease-specific feature of COVID-19.