Incidence and determinants of venous thromboembolism over 90 days in hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients with COVID-19

Cardiac events and procedures following COVID-19 compared with other pneumonias: a national register study

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown an increased risk of cardiac disease following COVID-19, but how it compares to pneumonia of other etiologies is unclear.

AIMS

To determine the incidence and HRs of cardiac disease in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 compared with other viral or bacterial pneumonias.

METHODS

Using nationwide registry data, we estimated the incidence of cardiac events after hospitalisation with COVID-19 (n=2082) in February to November 2020 vs hospitalisation with viral (n=9018) or bacterial (n=29 339) pneumonia in 2018-2019. We defined outcomes using ICD-10 codes for incident myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation/flutter, heart failure, ischaemic heart disease, other cardiac disease and total cardiac disease (any heart condition). We used Cox regression and logistic regression for analysis.

RESULTS

Patients with COVID-19 had a mean (SD) age of 60 (18) years, compared with 69 (19) years for viral and 72 (17) years for bacterial pneumonia. Those with COVID-19 were more often male and had fewer comorbidities and fewer prior hospitalisations. Patients with COVID-19 had a lower hazard of new-onset cardiac disease compared with viral (HR 0.79 [95%CI 0.66 to 0.93]) and bacterial pneumonia (HR 0.66 [95%CI 0.57 to 0.78]), adjusted for age, sex, comorbidity, hospital admission prior year and respiratory support. Results were similar when including recurrent events.

CONCLUSION

Patients hospitalised with COVID-19 had a lower hazard of new-onset cardiac disease during the first 9 months after hospitalisation compared with patients with other viral or bacterial pneumonias after adjusting for multiple possible confounders. However, there may still be residual confounding from other or unknown factors.

Same-day emergency care: a retrospective observational study of the incidence and predictors of venous thromboembolism following hospital-based acute ambulatory medical care

BACKGROUND

Same-day emergency care (SDEC) is an expanding area of hospital acute medical care. It aims to minimize delays and manage medical emergency patients within the same day, enabling hospitalization to be avoided; the expectation is that the patients would have required inpatient hospitalization in the absence of the SDEC service. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention is a key medical inpatient safety measure. Whether VTE prevention should be considered for SDEC patients is unknown.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the incidence and predictors of VTE diagnosed within 90 days of SDEC assessment.

METHODS

Data were obtained from electronic health records of people who received SDEC at our hospital during a 5-year period (April 2016 to March 2021).

RESULTS

There were 40 045 attendance episodes by 33 715 individuals. Median age was 60 years (IQR, 41.0-76.0 years), and 55.2% were women. Three hundred forty-nine patients (0.9%) developed a VTE within 90 days of SDEC. Increased risk of VTE was associated with age more than 60 years, prior malignancy (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 4.12; 95% CI, 3.19-5.32; P < .0001), history of diseases of the circulatory system (adjusted OR, 2.92; 95% CI, 2.27-3.76; P < .0001), and having 1 or more additional SDEC attendances within 30 days (adjusted OR, 4.61; 95% CI, 3.65-5.82; P < .0001). In the 90 days prior to VTE diagnosis, 36.6% of patients had a separate inpatient admission in addition to SDEC. There was no association with completion of an electronic VTE risk assessment (adjusted OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.76-1.20).

CONCLUSION

The incidence of VTE following SDEC is similar to that reported for symptomatic VTE in traditional medical inpatients without thromboprophylaxis.

COVID-19 and self-reported health of the Norwegian adult general population: A longitudinal study 3 months before and 9 months into the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic had a global impact on daily lives, and this study aimed to assess the effects on broader aspects of health in the general population of Norway. This population-based cohort study assessed changes in health of the Norwegian general population from 3 months before to 9 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sampling was based on the results of Norwegian surveys designed for collecting general population norms for health measurement instruments. In December 2019, 12,790 randomly selected adults aged ≥18 years received a postal questionnaire. The 3,200 respondents received a similar follow-up postal questionnaire including the EQ-5D-5L, PROMIS-29 instruments, and questions about respondents having or having had COVID-19. Score changes were compared to estimates for the minimal important change (MIC) and age-related change. Association of instrument change scores with baseline characteristics, health problems, and having had COVID-19 was determined using multivariable linear regression. Of 3101 respondents with unchanged addresses, 2423 (78.1%) responded to the second survey. For all respondents, EQ VAS and PROMIS-29 scores for 6 of 8 domains were slightly poorer (p<0.01) than before COVID-19, and the mean change was below the MIC. In multivariable analyses, the greatest number of poorer outcomes were associated with being female, 18-29 years, or ≥80 years of age (p<0.01); > MIC for ≥ 80 years of age and EQ-5D index, PROMIS-29 physical function and social participation. Respondents who had COVID-19 had poorer outcomes for PROMIS-29 social participation (> MIC). Those reporting COVID-19 in their partner/family and not themselves, had poorer outcomes for PROMIS-29 anxiety and social participation. About 9 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, EQ-5D-5L and PROMIS-29 domain scores showed slightly poorer health in the Norwegian adult general population compared to 1 year earlier in the same respondents. The overall changes were less than expected for age-related change. Relatively poor outcomes defined as important, included general health and social participation for the elderly, and the latter for those having had COVID-19. In conclusion, this study found no evidence for a decline in important aspects of adult general population health in Norway that might be attributed to the pandemic at approximately 9 months.

Thrombo-inflammatory response in hospitalised patients with COVID-19: a single institution experience

BACKGROUND

Severe COVID-19 causes acute inflammation, which is complicated by venous thromboembolism events (VTE). However, it is unclear if VTE risk has evolved over time since the COVID-19 outbreak.

AIMS

To determine markers of thrombo-inflammation and rates of symptomatic VTE in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 in a metropolitan hospital in Sydney, Australia.

METHODS

A retrospective, single-centre, cohort study was performed by reviewing electronic medical records of consecutive patients admitted to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital between March 2020 and September 2021. This period included three waves of COVID-19 outbreaks in Australia with the ancestral, alpha and delta variants. Standard coagulation assays and inflammatory markers were recorded over 4 weeks.

RESULTS

A total of 205 patients were consecutively admitted during the study period. Activated partial thromboplastin time, neutrophil count and C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly increased in patients hospitalised in the intensive care unit (ICU) compared with non-ICU patients. The use of anti-inflammatory medication increased in 2021 compared with 2020. The mortality rate was 7.3% in our cohort. Ninety-four per cent of patients received anticoagulation with 6.3% of patients developing VTE.

CONCLUSION

We observed lower rates of VTE compared to the internationally reported rate for the same period. We conclude that in the setting of controlled hospital admission rate and standard anticoagulation guidelines, COVID-19 resulted in similar thrombo-inflammatory response and VTE rates over the first 1.5 years of the pandemic.