In patients with COVID-19, vaccination reduces risk for CV events
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NEW ORLEANS — The first U.S. study to examine the link between COVID-19 vaccination and risk for major adverse cardiac events found that vaccination was protective against such events in patients with COVID-19.
The results confirm previous findings from a Korean registry, according to the study, which was presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Data were derived from Jiang J, et al. Abstract 1458-185. Presented at: American College of Cardiology Scientific Session; March 4-6, 2023; New Orleans (hybrid meeting).
“My personal fascination that underpins my doctoral research is understanding how preventive efforts can circumvent cardiac complications. We decided to undertake this study because research had emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that reported an increase in acute cardiovascular events following SARS-CoV-2 infection,” Joy Jiang, BS, an MD/PhD candidate at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told Healio. “Motivated by early studies that suggested vaccination could mitigate severe infection phenotype, we were interested in further elucidating how vaccination can impact the cardiovascular system among patients who become infected with SARS-CoV-2.”
The analysis included 1,934,294 patients aged 18 to 90 years (mean age, 45.2 years; 55.9% women; 81.3% white) included in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 between March 2020 and Feb. 1, 2022. At the time of infection, 10.1% were fully vaccinated, 1.2% were partially vaccinated and 88.7% were not vaccinated.
Among the cohort, 0.7% had a major adverse cardiac event, defined by a composite set of diagnostic codes, including 0.5% of fully vaccinated patients, 0.7% of partially vaccinated patients and 0.7% of nonvaccinated patients. Median time from infection to major adverse cardiac event was 17 days (interquartile range, 3-67), and 3,175 patients died after their cardiac event.
After adjustment for demographics, month of illness and comorbidities, compared with those not vaccinated, patients with full COVID-19 vaccination were at reduced risk for major adverse cardiac events (adjusted HR = 0.59; 95% CI, 0.55-0.63), as were patients with partial vaccination (aHR = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.65-0.89), Jiang and colleagues found.
“We were surprised to see the partial and full vaccination were both associated with decreased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), even after adjustment for comorbidities,” Jiang told Healio. “It was also interesting to see that degree of vaccination was linked with degree of risk, in which full vaccination was associated with a greater decreased risk of MACE in comparison with partial vaccination. We were able to capture one benefit of vaccination and hope that this can encourage more people to get vaccinated.”
Risk for major adverse cardiac events was higher in men, in patients aged 66 years or older and in those with comorbidities, especially previous major adverse cardiac events, according to the researchers.
Although identifying a cause for the findings was beyond the scope of the study, “it is well known that infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus causes heart damage,” Jiang told Healio. “However, I suspect that the vaccine would allow the adaptive immune system to respond more effectively or quickly in response to viral infection.”
References:
- Jiang J, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2023;doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2022.12.006.
- Mount Sinai. www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2023/covid-vaccination-linked-to-fewer-cardiac-events. Published Feb. 20, 2023. Accessed Feb. 27, 2023.
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Jiang J, et al. Abstract 1458-185. Presented at: American College of Cardiology Scientific Session; March 4-6, 2023; New Orleans (hybrid meeting).
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