MONDAY, May 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Cardiovascular complications from COVID-19 rose among hospitalized patients from March 2020 to December 2021, according to a study published online April 5 in in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Eric J. Hall, M.D., from University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, and colleagues used data from the American Heart Association COVID-19 cardiovascular disease (CVD) registry (46,007 hospitalizations for adults with active COVID-19 infection) to assess trends in all-cause in-hospital mortality, CVD risk factors, and in-hospital CVD outcomes in March 2020 and three time periods between April 2020 to December 2021.

The researchers found that patients admitted later in the pandemic were younger, more likely obese, and less likely to have existing CVD. The incidence of the primary composite outcome (cardiovascular death, cardiogenic shock, new heart failure, stroke, and myocardial infarction) increased from 7.0 percent in March 2020 to 9.8 percent in October to December 2021. An increase in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction and stroke drove this trend. The rate of in-hospital mortality (14.2 percent) declined over time (20.8 percent in March 2020 versus 10.8 percent in the last epoch).

“Despite all the advances in treatment, despite vaccinations, COVID-19 remains a disease capable of leading to significant mortality and significant need for mechanical ventilation and is definitely still something that needs to be taken seriously,” Hall said in a statement.

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