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. 2023 Nov 21;2(10):100701.
doi: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2023.100701. eCollection 2023 Dec.

COVID-19-Related Thrombotic and Bleeding Events in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease

Flavia Fusco  1 Richard A Krasuski  2 Soraya Sadeghi  3 Marlon S Rosenbaum  4 Matthew J Lewis  4 Matthew R Carazo  5 Fred H Rodriguez  5 Dan G Halpern  6 Jodi L Feinberg  6 Francisca A Galilea  7 Fernando Baraona  7 Ari M Cedars  8 Jong M Ko  8 Prashob Porayette  9 Jennifer R Maldonado  9 Alexandra A Frogoudaki  10 Amiram Nir  11 Anisa Chaudhry  12 Anitha S John  13 Arsha Karbassi  14 Javier Ganame  14 Arvind Hoskoppal  15 Benjamin P Frischhertz  16 Benjamin Hendrickson  17 Carla P Rodriguez-Monserrate  18 Christopher R Broda  19 Daniel Tobler  20 David Gregg  21 Efrén Martinez-Quintana  22 Elizabeth Yeung  23 Eric V Krieger  24 Francisco J Ruperti-Repilado  25 George Giannakoulas  26 George K Lui  27 Georges Ephrem  28 Harsimran S Singh  29 Almeneisi Hasan  30 Heather L Bartlett  31 Ian Lindsay  32 Jasmine Grewal  33 Jeremy Nicolarsen  34 John J Araujo  35 Jonathan W Cramer  36 Judith Bouchardy  37 Khalid Al Najashi  38 Kristi Ryan  39 Laith Alshawabkeh  40 Lauren Andrade  41 Magalie Ladouceur  42 Markus Schwerzmann  43 Matthias Greutmann  44 Pablo Merás  45 Paolo Ferrero  46 Payam Dehghani  47 Poyee P Tung  48 Rocio Garcia-Orta  49 Rose Tompkins  50 Salwa M Gendi  51 Scott Cohen  52 Scott E Klewer  53 Sebastien Hascoet  54 Shailendra Upadhyay  55 Stacy D Fisher  56 Stephen Cook  57 Timothy B Cotts  58 Adrienne H Kovacs  59 Jamil A Aboulhosn  3 Giancarlo Scognamiglio  1 Craig S Broberg  59 Berardo Sarubbi  1
Affiliations

COVID-19-Related Thrombotic and Bleeding Events in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease

Flavia Fusco et al. JACC Adv. .

Abstract

Background: Altered coagulation is a striking feature of COVID-19. Adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD) are prone to thromboembolic (TE) and bleeding complications.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for COVID-19 TE/bleeding complications in ACHD patients.

Methods: COVID-19-positive ACHD patients were included between May 2020 and November 2021. TE events included ischemic cerebrovascular accident, systemic and pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and intracardiac thrombosis. Major bleeding included cases with hemoglobin drop >2 g/dl, involvement of critical sites, or fatal bleeding. Severe infection was defined as need for intensive care unit, endotracheal intubation, renal replacement therapy, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or death. Patients with TE/bleeding were compared to those without events. Factors associated with TE/bleeding were determined using logistic regression.

Results: Of 1,988 patients (age 32 [IQR: 25-42] years, 47% male, 59 ACHD centers), 30 (1.5%) had significant TE/bleeding: 12 TE events, 12 major bleeds, and 6 with both TE and bleeding. Patients with TE/bleeding had higher in-hospital mortality compared to the remainder cohort (33% vs 1.7%; P < 0.0001) and were in more advanced physiological stage (P = 0.032) and NYHA functional class (P = 0.01), had lower baseline oxygen saturation (P = 0.0001), and more frequently had a history of atrial arrhythmia (P < 0.0001), previous hospitalization for heart failure (P < 0.0007), and were more likely hospitalized for COVID-19 (P < 0.0001). By multivariable logistic regression, prior anticoagulation (OR: 4.92; 95% CI: 2-11.76; P = 0.0003), cardiac injury (OR: 5.34; 95% CI: 1.98-14.76; P = 0.0009), and severe COVID-19 (OR: 17.39; 95% CI: 6.67-45.32; P < 0.0001) were independently associated with increased risk of TE/bleeding complications.

Conclusions: ACHD patients with TE/bleeding during COVID-19 infection have a higher in-hospital mortality from the illness. Risk of coagulation disorders is related to severe COVID-19, cardiac injury during infection, and use of anticoagulants.

Keywords: COVID-19; adult congenital heart disease; bleeding; thrombosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Central Illustration
Central Illustration
COVID-19 Related Coagulation Disorders in ACHD Patients Among 1,988 COVID-19 positive ACHD patients with median age of 32 (IQR: 25-42) years the incidence of coagulopathy was 1.5% and was associated with significantly higher risk of death (bottom left panel). Previous indication to anticoagulation, cardiac injury during infection and COVID-19 severity were independently associated to the risk of coagulation disorders (bottom right panel, OR and 95% CI are reported inside the bars of the bar graph). ACHD = adult patients with congenital heart disease.

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