Prevalence of Heart Failure in COVID Patients and Its Association with Mortality

Background Moderate to severe COVID infection has been linked to poor cardiovascular outcomes, mainly pericarditis, heart failure and acute coronary syndrome. However, the pathophysiology remains not fully understood. We studied the prevalence of heart failure in patients hospitalized with COVID infections in our local hospital in West Virginia. Methods Utilizing ICD-10 codes, we collected data from Cabell Huntington Hospital, West Virginia. Patients who had COVID infection were selected. We analyzed the data of patients who had pre-existing heart failure, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, diabetes and hypertension. We calculated odds ratio for patients with pre-existing conditions in regards to mortality. All p-values were based on 2-tailed tests and were considered statistically significant when p < 0.05. Results 2,532 patients were admitted due to COVID, out of which 260 (10.27%) had pre-existing diagnosis heart failure. Heart failure patients had a higher odds of in hospital mortality [2.87, 2.35-3.50 CI 95%]. Similarly, patients with other pre-existing conditions were associated with higher inpatient mortality, which included hypertension [1.25, 1.02-1.54 CI 95%], diabetes [1.36, 1.11-1.66 CI 95%], atrial fibrillation [2.74, 2.52-3.42 CI 95%] and coronary artery disease [1.19, 0.56-2.49 CI 95%]. Length of stay was longer among those individuals with HF (13.93 days vs 8.54 days). Conclusion Data analysis demonstrates that the patients with COVID infection and concomitant heart failure have worse mortality outcomes. Moderate to severe COVID infection has been linked to poor cardiovascular outcomes, mainly pericarditis, heart failure and acute coronary syndrome. However, the pathophysiology remains not fully understood. We studied the prevalence of heart failure in patients hospitalized with COVID infections in our local hospital in West Virginia. Utilizing ICD-10 codes, we collected data from Cabell Huntington Hospital, West Virginia. Patients who had COVID infection were selected. We analyzed the data of patients who had pre-existing heart failure, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, diabetes and hypertension. We calculated odds ratio for patients with pre-existing conditions in regards to mortality. All p-values were based on 2-tailed tests and were considered statistically significant when p < 0.05. 2,532 patients were admitted due to COVID, out of which 260 (10.27%) had pre-existing diagnosis heart failure. Heart failure patients had a higher odds of in hospital mortality [2.87, 2.35-3.50 CI 95%]. Similarly, patients with other pre-existing conditions were associated with higher inpatient mortality, which included hypertension [1.25, 1.02-1.54 CI 95%], diabetes [1.36, 1.11-1.66 CI 95%], atrial fibrillation [2.74, 2.52-3.42 CI 95%] and coronary artery disease [1.19, 0.56-2.49 CI 95%]. Length of stay was longer among those individuals with HF (13.93 days vs 8.54 days). Data analysis demonstrates that the patients with COVID infection and concomitant heart failure have worse mortality outcomes.