The COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Risk Intersection: 3 Major Considerations

The intersection between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other comorbidities has been an ongoing discussion in healthcare since the start of the pandemic.

In a recent interview with HCPLive®, Manan Pareek, MD, PhD, broadly discussed how cardiovascular (CV) disease risk relates to COVID-19, or at least what is currently understood so far.

He explained that various studies from China have suggested that patients with a high cardiovascular risk or disease burden tend to have a greater vulnerability during infection.

Furthermore, he acknowledged the current concerns with medications that affect the CV system. There is a worry that such drugs could potentially exacerbate the COVID-19 disease course or individual infectivity.

Two drug classes he specifically highlighted were renin angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications.

“Although, I should mention that the recently presented BRACE-CORONA study at the ESC meeting found no apparent benefit from temporarily discontinuing RAS inhibitors during a COVID-19 infection.”

And finally, Pareek noted that infection itself may elevate risk for CV complications, such as arrhythmia, heart failure, myocarditis, or thromboembolic events.

At the European Society of Cardiology (ESC 2020) Congress, Pareek recently presented a study he and his colleagues at Yale New Haven Hospital are conducting of the hospital’s COVID-19 Cardiovascular registry. So far, they found there to be a high prevalence of CV disease risk and complications among the COVID-19 positive population.

Nonetheless, there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to COVID-19 and its impact on other health risks or concerns.