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Causes of Death in COVID-19 Patients with Cardiac Injury

Xiuhong Lyu1, Khushal Choudhary1, John Miskovsky2

  • 1Department of Medicine, Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI.

Rhode Island Medical Journal (2013)
|February 25, 2022
PubMed

Insights

In COVID-19 patients with cardiac injury, the primary cause of death was hypoxic respiratory failure, not heart issues. Cardiac arrhythmia was a minor factor in mortality for these patients.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Critical Care Medicine

Background:

  • Uncertainty exists regarding the specific causes of mortality in COVID-19 patients who exhibit cardiac injury.
  • Cardiac injury is a recognized complication in severe cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate and clarify the primary causes of death in COVID-19 patients with cardiac injury.
  • To compare mortality causes between COVID-19 patients with and without cardiac injury upon admission.

Main Methods:

  • A case-control study was performed.
  • Electronic medical records of 109 deceased COVID-19 patients with cardiac injury and 32 without were reviewed.
  • Data was collected from two hospitals in Rhode Island.

Main Results:

  • Hypoxic respiratory failure was the leading cause of death (72.5%) in COVID-19 patients with cardiac injury.
  • Multi-organ failure and septic shock (19.2%) were the second most common causes.
  • Cardiac arrhythmia (5.5%) and severe kidney failure (2.8%) were less frequent causes of death.
  • A similar distribution of causes of death was observed in the control group without cardiac injury.

Conclusions:

  • The predominant causes of death in COVID-19 patients with cardiac injury are non-cardiac, primarily severe hypoxic respiratory failure.
  • Cardiac-related arrhythmias contribute to a small fraction of deaths in this patient cohort.
  • Findings underscore the critical role of respiratory support and management of systemic complications in COVID-19 with cardiac injury.
Abstract

Keywords:
COVID-19admission-to-death timecardiac injurycause of deathhypoxic respiratory failure

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