New research published in Times Now has revealed that patients with severe Covid-19 who require mechanical ventilation are 16 times more likely to develop life-threatening ventricular tachycardia, a heart rhythm condition, within six months compared to those without severe infection. The study, presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) scientific congress, also found that severe Covid-19 raises the risks of other heart rhythm disorders.
Ventricular tachycardia is a potentially life-threatening heart rhythm disturbance that occurs when the ventricles, the heart’s lower chambers, beat too fast to pump correctly, resulting in the body receiving insufficiently oxygenated blood. This can have serious consequences for patients already battling severe Covid-19, as they often have other underlying health conditions.
The study, conducted by researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, included 3,023 patients with severe Covid-19 who required mechanical ventilation at an intensive care unit (ICU) and a control group of 28,463 individuals from the general population who had not been in an ICU with Covid-19 requiring mechanical ventilation. The average follow-up period was nine months.
The findings revealed that patients with severe Covid-19 requiring mechanical ventilation had significantly higher incidence rates of ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, other tachyarrhythmias, and bradycardia/pacemaker implantation compared to the control group. Specifically, the incidence rates per 1,000 person-years of ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, other tachyarrhythmias, and bradycardia/pacemaker implantation were 15.4, 78.4, 99.3, and 8.5, respectively, in patients who had severe Covid-19, while the corresponding rates in the control group were 0.9, 6.0, 6.7, and 0.9, respectively.
Furthermore, patients who had severe Covid-19 requiring mechanical ventilation had a 16-fold increased risk of ventricular tachycardia, a 13-fold increased risk of atrial fibrillation, a 14-fold increased risk of other tachyarrhythmias, and a 9-fold increased risk of bradycardia/pacemaker implantation compared to the control group.
Dr. Marcus Stahlberg of the Karolinska Institute emphasized that while the likelihood of developing ventricular tachycardia or other arrhythmias after severe Covid-19 is low for the individual patient, it is much higher than in those without severe infection.
He also noted that Covid-19 patients who require mechanical ventilation often have other underlying health conditions, and the addition of a heart rhythm disorder may further worsen their health. As such, these patients should seek medical attention if they develop palpitations or irregular heartbeats after hospital discharge to be evaluated for possible arrhythmias.
Dr. Stahlberg also highlighted that an increased risk of arrhythmias following Covid-19 had been reported previously in the general population. With over 650 million reported Covid-19 cases globally, hospital systems should be prepared to manage more patients requiring treatment for new-onset arrhythmias.
These findings shed light on the potential long-term cardiovascular complications of severe Covid-19 and highlight the importance of monitoring and managing heart rhythm disorders in patients recovering from severe Covid-19, particularly those who require mechanical ventilation. Further research is needed to understand these associations’ mechanisms and develop appropriate strategies for preventing and managing heart rhythm disorders in Covid-19 patients.
