Cardiac Arrhythmias and COVID-19: Correlation With Disease Severity

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Infectious Diseases
• Critical Care Medicine

Background:

• Cardiac arrhythmias are significant complications in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
• Understanding the link between arrhythmias and disease severity is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between cardiac arrhythmias and COVID-19 severity, stratified by oxygen support requirements.
• To identify risk factors and outcomes related to cardiac arrhythmias in COVID-19 patients.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective observational chart review of 396 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
• Comparison of baseline characteristics and outcomes between patients with and without cardiac arrhythmias.
• Poisson regression analysis to assess the correlation between arrhythmias and oxygen support levels (room air, nasal cannula, HFNC, BIPAP/MV).

Main Results:

• The incidence of cardiac arrhythmias was 36.7%, with pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and atrial fibrillation (AF) being most common.
• Arrhythmias were significantly associated with higher oxygen requirements (HFNC and BIPAP/MV) compared to room air.
• Patients with arrhythmias were older and had more comorbidities than those without.

Conclusions:

• Cardiac arrhythmias are prevalent in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and correlate positively with disease severity.
• Pulseless electrical activity was associated with mortality, while new-onset atrial fibrillation was observed in survivors.
• Oxygen support levels serve as a marker for increased arrhythmia risk in severe COVID-19.