Preprint Post-Acute Cardiovascular Outcomes of COVID-19 in Children and Adolescents: An EHR Cohort Study from the RECOVER Project, 2024, Zhang et al.

Post-Acute Cardiovascular Outcomes of COVID-19 in Children and Adolescents: An EHR Cohort Study from the RECOVER Project
Bingyu Zhang; RECOVER Initiative; Deepika Thacker; Ting Zhou; Dazheng Zhang; Yuqing Lei; Jiajie Chen; Elizabeth A Chrischilles; Dimitri A Christakis; Soledad A Fernandez; Vidu Garg; Susan Kim; Abu S M Mosa; Marion R Sills; Bradley W. Taylor; David A Williams; Qiong Wu; Christopher Forrest; Yong Chen

BACKGROUND
The risk of cardiovascular outcomes in the post-acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection has been quantified among adults and children. This paper aimed to assess a multitude of cardiac signs, symptoms, and conditions, as well as focused on patients with and without congenital heart defects (CHDs), to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the post-acute cardiovascular outcomes among children and adolescents after COVID-19.

METHODS
This retrospective cohort study used data from the RECOVER consortium comprising 19 US children’s hospitals and health institutions between March 2020 and September 2023. Every participant had at least a six-month follow-up after cohort entry. Absolute risks of incident post-acute COVID-19 sequelae were reported. Relative risks (RRs) were calculated by contrasting COVID-19-positive with COVID-19-negative groups using a Poisson regression model, adjusting for demographic, clinical, and healthcare utilization factors through propensity scoring stratification.

RESULTS
A total of 1,213,322 individuals under 21 years old (mean[SD] age, 7.75[6.11] years; 623,806 male [51.4%]) were included. The absolute rate of any post-acute cardiovascular outcome in this study was 2.32% in COVID-19 positive and 1.38% in negative groups.

Patients with CHD post-SARS-CoV-2 infection showed increased risks of any cardiovascular outcome (RR, 1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.47-1.80), including increased risks of 11 of 18 post-acute sequelae in hypertension, arrhythmias (atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias), myocarditis, other cardiac disorders (heart failure, cardiomyopathy, and cardiac arrest), thrombotic disorders (thrombophlebitis and thromboembolism), and cardiovascular-related symptoms (chest pain and palpitations).

Those without CHDs also experienced heightened cardiovascular risks after SARS-CoV-2 infection (RR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.57-1.69), covering 14 of 18 conditions in hypertension, arrhythmias (ventricular arrhythmias and premature atrial or ventricular contractions), inflammatory heart disease (pericarditis and myocarditis), other cardiac disorders (heart failure, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrest, and cardiogenic shock), thrombotic disorders (pulmonary embolism and thromboembolism), and cardiovascular-related symptoms (chest pain, palpitations, and syncope).

CONCLUSIONS
Both children with and without CHDs showed increased risks for a variety of cardiovascular outcomes after SARS-CoV-2 infection, underscoring the need for targeted monitoring and management in the post-acute phase.


Link | PDF (Preprint: MedRxiv) [Open Access]

 

Why are they still using health records, when it's long been shown that they are missing a lot of problems?!

Yeah, obviously this study started a while ago but still, the inability to adjust to new information is basically the freaking cornerstone of intelligence. If our SCIENTISTS can't freaking handle this, if the scientific process is built to refuse to budge, then what is even the point?!

I guess now we have to wait several more years until a proper study is done that doesn't rely on a tainted source, but at least it seems justified since not only is this pretty bad, it's obviously an underestimate.