Recent studies have suggested COVID-19 may result in new cardiovascular disease.1,2 To better understand this, we examined patterns of heart failure diagnoses for patients admitted with COVID-19.
Our study population consists of 55,285 patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 or tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and had a COVID-19-related admission by October 1, 2020. These data come from 70 healthcare organizations covering 352 hospitals. We found 23.6% of the 55,285 COVID-19 admitted patients had heart failure documented within 3 months after their COVID positivity. 7.1% of the 55,285 patients had new heart failure with no prior history within 3 months after their COVID positivity.
We found that a large majority of patients had heart failure documented within 14 days of COVID-19 positivity, regardless of whether the patient had a prior history of heart failure. This finding may suggest that new heart failure happens within two weeks of COVID-19 positivity or could be documentation of a pre-existing condition due to increased interaction with healthcare providers during their admission. To further evaluate the impact of increased surveillance during hospital admissions and its impact on new diagnosis of conditions, we will pursue a follow-up study on the timing of documentation for other chronic conditions in relation to admissions to see how this finding of increased heart failure compares.
