COVID-19 raises the stakes for heart attacks, strokes, and even death long after infection, new study finds
Practically from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers and medical experts feared–and often loudly warned–that the virus wasn’t like other infections that people might encounter during, say, flu season. SARS-CoV-2 was different. It was worse. And the potential long-term effects, as we reported two years ago, were even more worrisome.
A new large-scale study puts those longer-range concerns into bold relief. The results are as unforgiving as many experts had hypothesized.
Abstract:
BACKGROUND:
COVID-19 is associated with acute risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including myocardial infarction, stroke, and mortality (all-cause). However, the duration and underlying determinants of heightened risk of cardiovascular disease and MACE post–COVID-19 are not known.
CONCLUSIONS:
Hospitalization for COVID-19 represents a coronary artery disease risk equivalent, with post–acute myocardial infarction and stroke risk particularly heightened in non-O blood types. These results may have important clinical implications and represent, to our knowledge, one of the first examples of a gene-pathogen exposure interaction for thrombotic events.
