Heart Failure History Linked to Adverse Outcomes in COVID-19

TUESDAY, Nov. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) — History of heart failure is associated with an increased risk for mechanical ventilation and mortality among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a study published online Oct. 28 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Jesus Alvarez-Garcia, M.D., Ph.D., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of 6,439 patients admitted for COVID-19 at one of five Mount Sinai Health System hospitals between Feb. 27 and June 26, 2020, to describe the clinical profile and associated outcomes among patients with heart failure.

The researchers found that patients with previous heart failure had longer length of stay (eight versus six days), increased risk for mechanical ventilation (22.8 versus 11.9 percent; adjusted odds ratio, 3.64), and an increased risk for mortality (40.0 versus 24.9 percent; adjusted odds ratio, 1.88) compared with patients without heart failure. Patients with heart failure had similar outcomes, irrespective of left ventricular ejection fraction or renin-angiotensin-aldosterone inhibitor use.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, some heart failure drugs were believed to lead to increased risk of worse outcomes for COVID-19 patients, but our analysis shows no association between heart failure drugs, specifically angiotensin inhibitors, and worse prognosis,” Alvarez-Garcia said in a statement. “This study reinforces that these medications should be maintained unless health care providers recommend stopping them in specific cases.”

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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