Although most adults after ASO are well, and few have residual defects, there are subgroups, particularly those who needed further cardiac intervention in childhood, who are at higher risk for ventricular and valve dysfunction and arrhythmias.
Mortality in pregnant women with AS, including those with severe AS, appears to be close to zero in the current era. Symptomatic and severe AS does, however, carry a substantial risk of heart failure and is associated with high rates of hospitalization for cardiac reasons, although heart failure can nearly always be managed medically. The results highlight the importance of appropriate pre-conceptional patient evaluation and counseling.
Background
Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) have been considered potentially high risk for novel coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) mortality or other complications.
Objectives
This study sought to define the impact of COVID-19 in adults with CHD and to identify risk factors associated with adverse outcomes.
Methods
Adults (age 18 years or older) with CHD and with confirmed or clinically suspected COVID-19 were included from CHD centers worldwide. Data collection included anatomic diagnosis and subsequent interventions, comorbidities, medications, echocardiographic findings, presenting symptoms, course of illness, and outcomes. Predictors of death or severe infection were determined.
Results
From 58 adult CHD centers, the study included 1,044 infected patients (age: 35.1 ± 13.0 years; range 18 to 86 years; 51% women), 87% of whom had laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infection. The cohort included 118 (11%) patients with single ventricle and/or Fontan physiology, 87 (8%) patients with cyanosis, and 73 (7%) patients with pulmonary hypertension. There were 24 COVID-related deaths (case/fatality: 2.3%; 95% confidence interval: 1.4% to 3.2%). Factors associated with death included male sex, diabetes, cyanosis, pulmonary hypertension, renal insufficiency, and previous hospital admission for heart failure. Worse physiological stage was associated with mortality (p = 0.001), whereas anatomic complexity or defect group were not.
Conclusions
COVID-19 mortality in adults with CHD is commensurate with the general population. The most vulnerable patients are those with worse physiological stage, such as cyanosis and pulmonary hypertension, whereas anatomic complexity does not appear to predict infection severity.
Respiratory and skeletal muscle weakness is common in young adults with complex CHD and similar to that found in older adults with advanced heart failure from acquired heart disease.
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