New research shows COVID-19 infections increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death, in some cases doubling the likelihood of major cardiac events in the 3 years following infection.
The findings are published in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.
“These findings reveal while it’s an upper respiratory tract infection, COVID-19 has a variety of health implications and underscores that we should consider history of prior COVID-19 infection when formulating cardiovascular disease preventive plans and goals,“ said study author Stanley Hazen, MD, PhD, chair of cardiovascular and metabolic sciences in Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, in a press release from Cleveland Clinic.
To conduct the study, researchers at Cleveland Clinic and the University of Southern California used UK Biobank data from 10,005 people who had COVID-19 and 217,730 people who did not get infected between February and December 2020.
The UK Biobank tracked 503,325 adults living in the United Kingdom who were 40 to 69 years old at enrollment between 2006 and 2010.
Outcomes were major adverse cardiovascular events, including heart attack, stroke, and all-cause death through October 31, 2022, approximately 3 years after COVID infection.
Overall, the risk of a major cardiac event was elevated in COVID-19 patients at all levels of severity (hazard ratio [HR], 2.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.94 to 2.25]) and to a greater extent, in those hospitalized for COVID-19 (HR, 3.85; 95% CI, 3.51 to 4.24), the authors said.
Certain blood types at higher risk
In fact, the authors found that hospitalization for COVID-19 was a bigger risk factor for a cardiac event than having cardiovascular disease without COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 had a 21% greater risk of heart attack, stroke, and death than people with cardiovascular disease without COVID-19 infection.
In a further analysis using UK Biobank data, the researchers also looked at how and if blood types influenced cardiac outcomes after COVID-19.
Overall, non-O blood types (A, B, A/B) were more likely to suffer a major cardiac event after hospitalization, with an increased risk of thrombotic events in study participants with non-O blood types (HR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.29 to 2.09).
“The association uncovered by our research indicates a potential interaction between the virus and the piece of our genetic code that determines blood type and signals the need for further investigation,“ Hazen said. “A better understanding of what COVID-19 does at the molecular level may potentially teach us about pathways linked to cardiovascular disease risk.“
A better understanding of what COVID-19 does at the molecular level may potentially teach us about pathways linked to cardiovascular disease risk.
The study authors said 60% of the world’s population has a non-O blood type and thus may be at increased risk for cardiac events following COVID-19 infection.
