Cardiac involvement at presentation in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and their outcome in a tertiary referral hospital in Northern Italy

The correlation between myocardial injury and clinical outcome in COVID-19 patients is gaining attention in the literature. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of cardiac involvement and of respiratory failure in a cohort of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in an academic hospital in Lombardy, one of the most affected Italian (and worldwide) regions by the epidemic. The study included 405 consecutive patients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to a medical ward from February 25th to March 31st, 2020. Follow-up of surviving patients ended either at hospital discharge or by July 30th, 2020. Myocardial injury was defined on the basis of the presence of blood levels of hs-TnI above the 99th percentile upper reference limit. Respiratory function was assessed as PaO₂/FiO₂ (P/F) ratio. The primary end-point was death for any cause. During hospitalization, 124 patients died. Death rate increased from 7.9% in patients with normal hs-TnI plasma levels and no cardiac comorbidity to 61.5% in patients with elevated hs-TnI and cardiac involvement (p < 0.001). At multivariable analysis, older age, P/F ratio < 200 (both p < 0.001) and hs-TnI plasma levels were independent predictors of death. However, it must be emphasized that the median values of hs-TnI were within normal range in non-survivors. Cardiac involvement at presentation was associated with poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients, but, even in a population of COVID-19 patients who did not require invasive ventilation at hospital admission, mortality was mainly driven by older age and respiratory failure.