Impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection therapies on the risk of venous thromboembolism and cardiovascular events from the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry

Abstract

Abstract This study aimed to assess the impact of SARS-CoV-2 therapies on the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and other cardiovascular events. A retrospective, multicenter, observational study included hospitalized patients in Spain due to acute SARS-CoV-2 infection from March 2020 to March 2022. A total of 184,324 hospitalized COVID-19 patients were included, with a mean age of 67.5 (± 16) years of whom 58.4% were male. Among the comorbidities, arterial hypertension was the most common, affecting 52.5% (9618 patients), followed by dyslipidemia in 39.5% (7237 patients), diabetes mellitus in 23.7% (1748 patients), and atrial fibrillation in 10.6% (1948 patients). The overall mortality rate was 17.4% (3183 patients) and 9.9% (1819 patients) required admission to an intensive care unit. Cardiovascular events occurred in 4.08% (748 patients), with VTE occurring in 2.78% (510 patients), myocardial infarction in 0.75% (137 patients), and ischemic stroke in 0.55% (101 patients). Among therapies, beta-lactams were used in 66.7% (12,228 patients), systemic corticosteroids in 56.9% (10,424 patients), and tocilizumab in 11.6% (2128 patients). Multivariate analysis revealed an independent association between VTE and the use of tocilizumab (adjusted OR 2.07; p < 0.01), corticosteroids (adjusted OR 1.44; p = 0.02), and macrolides (adjusted OR 0.58; p < 0.01). None of the therapies were associated with the risk of myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke. In this large national cohort, tocilizumab and corticosteroids exhibited an independent association for the risk of VTE, but not for myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke.

Keywords

• Cardiovascular disease
• COVID-19
• Mortality
• SARS-CoV-2
• Venous thromboembolism