Cardiovascular findings on chest computed tomography associated with COVID-19 adverse clinical outcomes

Coronary artery calcification as a predictor of adverse outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

Background

Subclinical coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular events, but studies investigating its association with outcomes in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 are limited.

Methods

This was a retrospective study of 457 patients without history of clinical coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent chest CT imaging during COVID-19 hospitalization at MCW/Froedtert-affiliated hospitals from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021. Visually estimated CAC (yes/no) and CAC burden (none/mild/moderate/severe) were recorded from radiology reports. Unadjusted and adjusted regression models were used to assess associations between CAC and hospital length of stay (LOS), ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and mortality.

Results

The mean age was 63.1 ± 15.3 years. Presence of CAC was associated with mechanical ventilation (p = 0.01), ICU admission (p = 0.02), in-hospital or 30-day mortality (p < 0.01), and hospital LOS (p < 0.001). Compared to no CAC, hospital LOS was increased for mild (p = 0.01) and severe CAC (p = 0.02) after adjustment for covariates. Severe CAC was also associated with increased ICU admission (OR 3.97; p = 0.002) and mechanical ventilation (OR 3.08; p = 0.03) after adjustment. In unadjusted analysis, in-hospital or 30-day mortality increased with magnitude of CAC severity, with HR 2.43 (p = 0.003) for mild and HR 3.70 (p = 0.002) for severe CAC. However, associations with mortality were not significant after adjustment.

Conclusions

CAC is associated with increased ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, hospital LOS, and in-hospital or 30-day mortality for patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Patients with severe CAC, and without clinical history of CAD, represent a high-risk population for morbidity and mortality.

Effect of Coronary Artery Disease on COVID-19-Prognosis and Risk Assessment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Patients with pre-existing CAD were shown to have a more severe course of COVID-19, but this association has not been clarified. We performed a meta-analysis to determine the association between CAD and COVID-19 outcomes. We searched Scopus, Medline (PubMed), Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane databases up to 2 November 2021. There were 62 studies with a total population of 49,286 patients included in the meta-analysis. CAD occurrence in survivor vs. non-survivor groups varied and amounted to 9.2% vs. 22.9%, respectively (OR = 0.33; 95%CI: 0.29 to 0.39; I² = 70%; p < 0.001). CAD was also associated with increased severity of COVID-19 disease and was (10.8% vs. 5.6%, respectively, for severe vs. non-severe groups (OR = 2.28; 95%CI: 1.59 to 3.27; I² = 72%; p < 0.001). The role of history of CAD in mortality and severe condition in COVID-19 presents itself as prominent-although a risk of bias in retrospective trials needs to be assessed, in case of our meta-analysis the statistically significant results when it comes to higher mortality among patients with CAD compared to non-CAD patients, a more severe condition observed in patients with CAD, and a visibly more frequent admission to intensive care unit in patients with CAD, it seems that an incidence of cardiovascular events plays a role in COVID-19 prognosis.