Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2021 Sep;98(3):E370-E378.
doi: 10.1002/ccd.29709. Epub 2021 Apr 27.

Patients with COVID-19 who experience a myocardial infarction have complex coronary morphology and high in-hospital mortality: Primary results of a nationwide angiographic study

Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Patients with COVID-19 who experience a myocardial infarction have complex coronary morphology and high in-hospital mortality: Primary results of a nationwide angiographic study

Alexandre Abizaid et al. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to explore angiographic patterns and in-hospital outcomes of patients with concomitant coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) and myocardial infarction (MI).

Background: Patients with COVID-19 may experience MI during the course of the viral infection. However, this association is currently poorly understood.

Methods: This is a multicenter prospective study of consecutive patients with concomitant COVID-19 and MI who underwent coronary angiography. Quantitative and qualitative coronary angiography were analyzed by two observers in an independent core lab.

Results: A total of 152 patients were included, of whom 142 (93.4%) had COVID-19 diagnosis confirmation. The median time between symptom onset and hospital admission was 5 (1-10) days. A total of 83 (54.6%) patients presented with ST-elevation MI. The median angiographic Syntax score was 16 (9.0-25.3) and 69.0% had multi-vessel disease. At least one complex lesion was found in 73.0% of patients, 51.3% had a thrombus containing lesion, and 57.9% had myocardial blush grades 0/1. The overall in-hospital mortality was 23.7%. ST-segment elevation MI presentation and baseline myocardial blush grades 0 or 1 were independently associated with a higher risk of death (HR 2.75, 95%CI 1.30-5.80 and HR 3.73, 95%CI 1.61-8.61, respectively).

Conclusions: Patients who have a MI in the context of ongoing COVID-19 mostly present complex coronary morphologies, implying a background of prior atherosclerotic disease superimposed on a thrombotic milieu. The in-hospital prognosis is poor with a markedly high mortality, prompting further investigation to better clarify this newly described condition.

Keywords: coronary angiography; coronavirus disease 2019; myocardial infarction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Mehran reports institutional research grants from Abbott Laboratories, Abiomed, Applied Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Beth Israel Deaconess, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, CERC, Chiesi, Concept Medical, CSL Behring, DSI, Medtronic, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, OrbusNeich; consultant fees from Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific, CardiaWave, Chiesi, Janssen Scientific Affairs, Medscape/WebMD, Medtelligence (Janssen Scientific Affairs), Roivant Sciences, Sanofi, Siemens Medical Solutions; consultant fees paid to the institution from Abbott Laboratories, Bristol‐Myers Squibb; advisory board, funding paid to the institution from Spectranetics/Philips/Volcano Corp; consultant (spouse) from Abiomed, The Medicines Company, Merck; Equity <1% from Claret Medical, Elixir Medical; DSMB Membership fees paid to the institution from Watermark Research Partners; consulting (no fee) from Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; Associate Editor for ACC, AMA. Dr. Abizaid receives consulting fees from Boston Scientific. All other authors have nothing to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Survival curves according to clinical presentation and myocardial blush grades. NSTEMI, non‐ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction; STEMI, ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction

References

    1. Clerkin KJ, Fried JA, Raikhelkar J, et al. COVID‐19 and cardiovascular disease. Circulation. 2020;141(20):1648‐1655. 10.1161/circulationaha.120.046941. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shi S, Qin M, Shen B, et al. Association of cardiac injury with Mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID‐19 in Wuhan, China. JAMA Cardiol. 2020;5(7):802‐810. 10.1001/jamacardio.2020.0950. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Imazio M, Klingel K, Kindermann I, et al. COVID‐19 pandemic and troponin: indirect myocardial injury, myocardial inflammation or myocarditis? Heart. 2020;106(15):1127‐1131. - PubMed
    1. Lala A, Johnson KW, Januzzi JL, et al. Prevalence and impact of myocardial injury in patients hospitalized with COVID‐19 infection. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020;76(5):533‐546. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sianos G, Morel M, Kappetein A, et al. The SYNTAX score: an angiographic tool grading the complexity of coronary artery disease. EuroIntervention. 2005;1:219‐227. - PubMed

Publication types