Echocardiographic Abnormalities as Independent Prog-nostic Factors of In-Hospital Mortality among COVID-19Patients

Direct and indirect sequels of COVID-19 in the cardiovascular system are unclear. The presentstudy aims to investigate the echocardiography findings in COVID-19 patients and possible correlations be-tween the findings and the disease outcome.

In this cross-sectional study, baseline characteristics andechocardiographic findings of hospitalized COVID-19 cases, and their correlation with mortality were evaluated.Furthermore, computed tomography (CT) angiography was performed to assess possible pulmonary embolism.In-hospital mortality was considered as the main outcome of the present study.

680 confirmed COVID-19 cases with the mean age of 55.15 ± 10.92 (range: 28 – 79) years were studied (63.09% male). Analysis showedthat history of ischemic heart disease (RR=1.14; 95% CI: 1.08-1.19), history of hypertension (RR=1.04; 95% CI:1.00-1.08), presence of embolism in main pulmonary artery (RR=1.53; 95% CI: 1.35-1.74), CT involvement morethan 70% (RR=1.08; 95% CI: 1.1.01-1.16), left ventricular ejection fraction < 30 (RR=1.19; 95% CI: 1.07-1.32), pleu-ral effusion (RR=1.08; 95% CI: 1.00-1.16), pulmonary artery systolic blood pressure 35 to 50 mmHg (RR=1.11;95% CI: 1.03-1.18), right ventricular dysfunction (RR=1.54; 95% CI: 1.40-1.08), and collapsed inferior vena-cava(RR=1.05; 95% CI: 1.01-1.08) were independent prognostic factors of in-hospital mortality.

Ourstudy showed that cardiac involvement is a prevalent complication in COVID-19 patients. Echocardiographyfindings have independent prognostic value for prediction of in-hospital mortality. Since echocardiography isan easy and accessible method, echocardiography monitoring of COVID-19 patients can be used as a screeningtool for identification of high-risk patients.