Syncope and presyncope in patients with COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Infectious Diseases
• Internal Medicine

Background:

• COVID-19 presents with various cardiovascular issues like ischemia and arrhythmias.
• Syncope and presyncope in COVID-19 patients have not been systematically studied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize syncope and presyncope in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
• To compare clinical outcomes and characteristics of COVID-19 patients with and without syncope.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 1000 COVID-19 patients.
• Comparison of a syncope/presyncope group (n=37) with a control group (n=40).
• Analysis of telemetry data, treatments, and clinical outcomes.

Main Results:

• The incidence of syncope/presyncope was 3.7% among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
• Most syncopal episodes were unspecified (59.4%).
• No significant differences in inflammatory markers (d-dimer, troponin-I, CRP), arrhythmias, or death were observed between the syncope and control groups.

Conclusions:

• Syncope/presyncope is an uncommon presentation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
• These symptoms are infrequently associated with cardiac etiology or adverse outcomes.
• COVID-19 patients with syncope/presyncope had similar outcomes to those without these symptoms.