Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 18, 2025
A Pre-Clinical Porcine Model of Orthotopic Heart Transplantation
Published on: April 27, 2019
Comparative Analysis of Clinical Outcomes for COVID-19 and Influenza among Cardiac Transplant Recipients in the
Daniel J Chavarin1, Aniesh Bobba2, Monique G Davis1
1Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA.
Insights
Heart transplant patients with COVID-19 experienced significantly higher in-hospital mortality and complications compared to those with influenza. This highlights the severe risks associated with COVID-19 in immunocompromised individuals.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Transplantation Medicine
Background:
- Immunocompromised individuals, such as heart transplant recipients, are at higher risk for severe outcomes from infections.
- Comorbidities in heart transplant patients can exacerbate the effects of viral infections like COVID-19.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare in-hospital mortality and clinical outcomes of heart transplant patients diagnosed with COVID-19 versus influenza.
- To identify specific complications and healthcare costs associated with COVID-19 infection in this vulnerable population.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the National Inpatient Sample database for retrospective analysis.
- Compared outcomes between 1155 heart transplant patients with COVID-19 and 1305 heart transplant patients with influenza.
- Primary outcome was in-hospital mortality; secondary outcomes included mechanical ventilation, acute heart failure, and ventricular arrhythmias.
Main Results:
- In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in the COVID-19 group (9.5%) compared to the influenza group (0.8%) (adjusted OR: 51.6).
- Heart transplant patients with COVID-19 had increased rates of mechanical ventilation, acute heart failure, and ventricular arrhythmias.
- The mean total hospitalization cost was higher for patients with COVID-19.
Conclusions:
- COVID-19 poses a substantially greater mortality risk to heart transplant recipients than influenza.
- This vulnerable population experiences severe complications and increased healthcare costs when infected with COVID-19.
- Further research on vaccination and treatment strategies is crucial to improve outcomes for heart transplant patients.
Abstract:
COVID-19 infections can lead to worse outcomes in an immunocompromised population with multiple comorbidities, e.g., heart transplant patients. We used the National Inpatient Sample database to compare heart transplant outcomes in patients with COVID-19 vs. influenza. A total of 2460 patients were included in this study: heart transplant with COVID-19 (n = 1155, 47.0%) and heart transplant with influenza (n = 1305, 53.0%) with the primary outcome of in-hospital mortality. In-hospital mortality (n = 120) was significantly higher for heart transplant patients infected with COVID-19 compared to those infected with influenza (9.5% vs. 0.8%, adjusted OR: 51.6 [95% CI 4.3-615.9], p = 0.002) along with significantly higher rates of mechanical ventilation, acute heart failure, ventricular arrhythmias, and higher mean total hospitalization cost compared to the influenza group. More studies are needed on the role of vaccination and treatment to improve outcomes in this vulnerable population.
