Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a new human disease with few effective treatments 1. Convalescent plasma, donated by persons who have recovered from COVID-19, is the acellular component of blood that contains antibodies, including those that specifically recognize SARS-CoV-2. These antibodies, when transfused into patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, are thought to exert an antiviral effect, suppressing virus replication before patients have mounted their own humoral immune responses 2,3. Virus-specific antibodies from recovered persons are often the first available therapy for an emerging infectious disease, a stopgap treatment while new antivirals and vaccines are being developed 1,2. This retrospective, propensity score-matched case-control study assessed the effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy in 39 patients with severe or life-threatening COVID-19 at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Oxygen requirements on day 14 after transfusion worsened in 17.9% of plasma recipients versus 28.2% of propensity score-matched controls who were hospitalized with COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.86; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.75-0.98; chi-square test P value = 0.025). Survival also improved in plasma recipients (adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 0.34; 95% CI, 0.13-0.89; chi-square test P = 0.027). Convalescent plasma is potentially effective against COVID-19, but adequately powered, randomized controlled trials are needed.

Background Myocardial injury is frequent among patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and is associated with a poor prognosis. However, the mechanisms of myocardial injury remain unclear and prior studies have not reported cardiovascular imaging data. Objectives This study sought to characterize the echocardiographic abnormalities associated with myocardial injury and their prognostic impact in patients with COVID-19. Methods We conducted an international, multicenter cohort study including 7 hospitals in New York City and Milan of hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who had undergone transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) and electrocardiographic evaluation during their index hospitalization. Myocardial injury was defined as any elevation in cardiac troponin at the time of clinical presentation or during the hospitalization. Results A total of 305 patients were included. Mean age was 63 years and 205 patients (67.2%) were male. Overall, myocardial injury was observed in 190 patients (62.3%). Compared with patients without myocardial injury, those with myocardial injury had more electrocardiographic abnormalities, higher inflammatory biomarkers and an increased prevalence of major echocardiographic abnormalities that included left ventricular wall motion abnormalities, global left ventricular dysfunction, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction grade II or III, right ventricular dysfunction and pericardial effusions. Rates of in-hospital mortality were 5.2%, 18.6%, and 31.7% in patients without myocardial injury, with myocardial injury without TTE abnormalities, and with myocardial injury and TTE abnormalities. Following multivariable adjustment, myocardial injury with TTE abnormalities was associated with higher risk of death but not myocardial injury without TTE abnormalities. Conclusions Among patients with COVID-19 who underwent TTE, cardiac structural abnormalities were present in nearly two-thirds of patients with myocardial injury. Myocardial injury was associated with increased in-hospital mortality particularly if echocardiographic abnormalities were present.

Background Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) results in increased inflammatory markers previously associated with atrial arrhythmias. However, little is known about their incidence or specificity in COVID-19, or their association with outcomes. We determined the incidence, predictors and outcomes of atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF/AFL) in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, or hospitalized with Influenza. Methods This is a retrospective analysis of 3,970 patients admitted with PCR-positive COVID-19 between 2/4/2020-4/22/2020 with manual review performed of 1,110. The comparator arm included 1,420 patients with influenza hospitalized between 1/1/2017-1/1/2020. Results Among 3970 inpatients with COVID-19, the incidence of AF/AFL was 10% (N=375) and in patients without a history of atrial arrhythmias, 4% (N=146). Patients with new-onset AF/AFL were older with increased inflammatory markers including Interleukin-6 (93 vs 68 pg/ml, P<0.01), and more myocardial injury (Troponin-I: 0.2 vs 0.06ng/ml, P<0.01). AF/AFL were associated with increased mortality (46% vs 26%, P<0.01). Manual review captured a somewhat higher incidence of AF/AFL (13%, N=140). Compared to inpatients with COVID-19, patients with Influenza (N=1420) had similar rates of AF/AFL (12%, n=163) but lower mortality. The presence of AF/AFL correlated with similarly increased mortality in both COVID-19 (RR 1.77) and Influenza (RR 1.78). Conclusions AF/AFL occurs in a subset of patients hospitalized with either COVID-19 or Influenza, and is associated with inflammation and disease severity in both infections. The incidence and associated increase in mortality in both cohorts suggests that AF/AFL in not specific to COVID-19, but is rather a generalized response to the systemic inflammation of severe viral illnesses.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

Background - Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who develop cardiac injury are reported to experience higher rates of malignant cardiac arrhythmias. However, little is known about these arrhythmias - their frequency, the underlying mechanisms, and their impact on mortality. Methods - We extracted data from a registry (NCT04358029) regarding consecutive inpatients with confirmed COVID-19, were receiving continuous telemetric ECG monitoring, and had a definitive disposition of hospital discharge or death. Between patients who died versus discharged, we compared a primary composite endpoint of cardiac arrest from ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation or bradyarrhythmias such as atrio-ventricular block. Results - Among 800 COVID-19 patients at Mount Sinai Hospital with definitive dispositions, 140 patients had telemetric monitoring and either died (52) or were discharged (88). The median (IQR) age was 61 years (48 - 74); 73% men; and ethnicity was Caucasian in 34%. Comorbidities included hypertension in 61%, coronary artery disease in 25%, ventricular arrhythmia history in 1.4%, and no significant comorbidities in 16%. Compared to discharged patients, those who died had elevated peak troponin I levels (0.27 vs 0.02 ng/mL), and more primary endpoint events (17% vs 4%, p = 0.01), a difference driven by tachyarrhythmias. Fatal tachyarrhythmias invariably occurred in the presence of severe metabolic imbalance, while atrioventricular block was largely an independent primary event. Conclusions - Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who die experience malignant cardiac arrhythmias more often than those surviving to discharge. However, these events represent a minority of cardiovascular deaths, and ventricular tachyarrhythmias are mainly associated with severe metabolic derangement.