Clinical Characteristics and Factors Associated with Poor Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients with Novel Coronavirus Infection COVID-19

[Association of cardiovascular disease with hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients]

AIM

To evaluate the relationship between the in-hospital mortality of patients with COVID-19 and the history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) using data from the Russian registry of patients with COVID-19.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This study included 758 patients with COVID-19 (403 men, 355 women) aged from 18 to 95 years (median, 61 years), successively hospitalized in the COVID hospital of the Chazov National Medical Research Center of Cardiology from April through June 2020. Death predictors were studied using single- and multivariate regression analyses with the SPSS Statistics, Version 23.0 software.

RESULTS

During the stay in the hospital, 59 (7.8 %) patients with COVID-19 died, 677 (89.3 %) were discharged, and 22 (2.9 %) were transferred to other hospitals. The univariate regression analysis showed that the increase in age per decade was associated with a 92% increase in the risk of death [relative risk (RR), 1.92; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.58-2.34; p <0.001], and an increase in the number of CVDs increases the risk of death by 71% (RR 1.71; 95% CI 1.42-2.07; p<0.001). The presence of one or more CVDs or specific diseases [atrial fibrillation, chronic heart failure (CHF), ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, history of cerebrovascular accidents], as well as diabetes mellitus were associated with a higher risk of fatal outcome during the hospitalization for COVID-19. The presence of any CVD increased the risk of in-hospital death by 3.2 times. However, when the model was adjusted for age and sex, this association lost its strength, and only the presence of CHF was associated with a 3-fold increase in the risk of death (RR, 3.16; 95 % CI, 1.64-6.09; p=0.001). Age was another independent predictor of death (RR, 1.05; 95 % CI, 1.03-1.08; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

A history of CVD and the CVD number and severity are associated with a higher risk of death during the hospitalization for COVID-19; the independent predictors of in-hospital death are an age of 80 years and older and CHF.

Results of the prospective observation in routine practice of hypertensive patients with concomitant chronic respiratory diseases. Part II. Predictors of adverse events

Aim. To study the predictors of adverse events in hypertensive (HTN) patients, including those with chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs).

Material and methods. Regression analysis evaluated clinical and anamnestic data and blood pressure (BP) in outpatients with stage II-III HTN (n=156): 49 patients had asthma, 20 — chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; age — 63,4±8,8 years, women — 72,4%, followup duration 29,3±8,0 months. The outcomes included in the composite primary endpoint (EP) were registered in 32 patients (death, major cardiovascular events and complications), while the secondary EPs were registered in 57 patients (hospitalizations, emergency calls, temporary disability due to cardiovascular disease/CRD, hypertensive crisis, exacerbation of CRD, pneumonia, respiratory failure), and tertiary EP — in 76 (other significant diseases/conditions, including increased blood pressure without hypertensive crisis, requiring correction of regular therapy).

Results. Predictors of primary EPs were the decrease level of nocturnal diastolic BP (DBP) (β=-5,335, p=0,026), nocturnal DBP variability (β=1,796, p=0,007), blood leukocyte level (β=0,241, p=0,039); secondary EPs — systolic blood pressure ≥170 mm Hg in history (β=1,305-1,641, p=0,037-0,017), statin use (β=-0,997, p=0,037), CRD (β=0,734, p=0,023), blood platelet level (β=-0,008, p=0,022); tertiary EPs — only CRD (β=1,082, p<0,0001).

Conclusion. Patients with HTN need complex multifactorial prevention. It is necessary to improve the control of office and ambulatory blood pressure, blood lipids, especially in the presence of CRD, to improve the control of CRDs themselves. The method of 24-hour blood pressure monitoring should be used more often in routine practice, including assessing the degree of nocturnal blood pressure reduction and its variability.

Assessment and Monitoring of Coagulation in Patients with COVID-19: A Review of Current Literature

Coagulation abnormalities are common in patients with COVID-19 and associated with high morbidity and mortality. It became a daily challenge to navigate through these abnormal laboratory findings and deliver the best possible treatment to the patients. The unique character of COVID-19-induced coagulopathy necessitates not only a dynamic follow-up of the patients in terms of hemostatic findings but also the introduction of new diagnostic methods to determine the overall function of the coagulation system in real time. After the recognition of the high risk of thromboembolism in COVID-19, several professional societies published their recommendations regarding anticoagulation in patients with COVID-19. This review summarizes common hemostatic findings in COVID-19 patients and presents the societal recommendations regarding the use of coagulation laboratory findings in clinical decision-making. Although several studies have investigated coagulation parameters in patients with COVID-19, the methodological shortcomings of published studies as well as the differences in employed anticoagulation regimens that have changed over time, depending on national and international guidelines, limit the applicability of these findings in other clinical settings. Accordingly, evidence-based recommendations for diagnostics during acute COVID-19 infection are still lacking. Future studies should verify the role of coagulation parameters as well as viscoelastic methods in the management of patients with COVID-19.

Sequelae of COVID-19 at long-term follow-up after hospitalization

Aim. To assess long-term sequelae of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients at 3 to 7 months after discharge.

Material and Methods. The whole of 700 patients hospitalized to the temporary COVID-19 treatment center hosted by the FSBI “National Medical Research Center of Cardiology” of the Ministry of Health of Russia from April to June 2020 were invited to participate in a follow-up study. At 3-7 months after the index hospitalization, patients or their proxies were contacted via telephone in order to obtain information on their vital status, cardiovascular and other conditions or their complications, and new hospitalizations. In addition, patients were invited to an outpatient visit under the "COVID-19-follow-up" program, encompassing physical examination and a comprehensive battery of laboratory and instrumental tests, including spirometry, chest computed tomography (CT) and the six minute walk test (6MWT). Further, dyspnea was assessed using the mMRC (Modified Medical Research Council) Dyspnea Scale. 

Results: We were able to contact 87.4% (612/700) of patients or their proxies. At follow-up, 4.4% (27) patients died, of which 96.3% (26) had cardiovascular diseases (CVD). A total of 213 patients aged 19 to 94 years old (mean age 56.8±12.5, median 57 years [49.0; 64.0]; men, 55.4%) agreed come for an outpatient visit and to participate in the “COVID-19-follow-up” program. Since discharge, 8% (17) of patients required new hospitalizations, and more than a half of these patients (58.8%; 10/17) had CVD-related hospitalizations. A total of 8.4% (18) patients experienced worsening of hypertension, 9 (4.2%) patients had newly diagnosed hypertension, 2 (0.9%) – coronary artery disease patients experienced new/recurrent angina symptoms. 4 (1.9%) patients had newly diagnosed coronary artery disease, and one patient had an ischemic stroke. At the outpatient visit, 114 (53.5%) patients had some symptoms, most frequently, shortness of breath (33%), fatigue (27.4%), chest pain (11.3%), and abnormal heartbeats (8.5%). Based on the mMRC Scale, 59% of patients had dyspnea of varying severity. Most patients had a normal vital capacity (VC), which was moderately reduced in 3.3% and severely reduced in 0.5% of patients. Chest CT scans were obtained in 78 (36.6%) patients, whose worst lung damage scores during hospitalization were CT3 or CT4. One in ten patients (10.8%) with severe lung damage during acute infection had persisting ground glass opacities, 35.9% developed fibrotic changes, 79.6% of patients had linear or fine focal opacities. According to the 6MWT data, 12.3% of patients walked less than 70% of the predicted distance, 67% walked 71 to 99% of the predicted distance, and 20.7% of patients were able to walk 100% of their predicted distance.

Conclusion. These data suggest long-term negative sequelae of COVID-19 in more than half of hospitalized patients.

Methylprednisolone Treatment Versus Standard Supportive Care for Adult COVID-19 Mechanically Ventilated, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Patients

A myriad of symptoms presented by severely ill mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients has added pressure on the caregivers to explore therapeutic options. Systemic steroids have been reported to therapeutically benefit patients, with elevated inflammatory markers, during the severe acute respiratory syndrome, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak. COVID-19 disease is characterized by inflammation of the respiratory system and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Given the lack of specific treatment for COVID-19, the current study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic benefit of methylprednisolone as an add-on treatment for mechanically ventilated hospitalized COVID-19 patients with severe COVID pneumonia. Data were collected retrospectively from the electronic patient medical records, and interrater reliability was determined to limit selection bias. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze the data. The variables were cross-tabulated with the clinical outcome, and the chi-square test was used to determine the association between the outcomes and other independent variables. Sixty-one percent (43/70) of the COVID-19 ARDS patients received standard supportive care, and the remainder were administered, methylprednisolone (minimum 40 mg daily to a maximum 40 mg q 6 h). A 28-day all-cause mortality rate, in the methylprednisolone group, was 18% (5/27, p < 0.01) significantly lower, compared to the group receiving standard supportive care (51%, 22/43). The median number of days, for the hospital length of stay (18 days), ICU length of stay (9.5 days), and the number of days intubated (6 days) for the methylprednisolone-treated group, was significantly lower (p < 0.01) when compared with the standard supportive care group. Methylprednisolone treatment also reduced the C-reactive protein levels, compared to the standard care group on day 7. Our results strengthen the evidence for the role of steroids in reducing mortality, ICU length of stay, and ventilator days in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients with respiratory distress syndrome.