Abstract Aims Whether pulmonary artery (PA) dimension and coronary artery calcium (CAC) score, as assessed by chest computed tomography (CT), are associated with myocardial injury in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not known. The aim of this study was to explore the risk factors for myocardial injury and death and to investigate whether myocardial injury has an independent association with all-cause mortality in patients with COVID-19. Methods and Results This is a single-centre cohort study including consecutive patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 undergoing chest CT on admission. Myocardial injury was defined as high-sensitivity troponin I > 20 ng/L on admission. A total of 332 patients with a median follow-up of 12 days were included. There were 68 (20.5%) deaths; 123 (37%) patients had myocardial injury. PA diameter was higher in patients with myocardial injury compared with patients without myocardial injury [29.0 (25th–75th percentile, 27–32) mm vs. 27.7 (25–30) mm, <iP > < 0.001). PA diameter was independently associated with an increased risk of myocardial injury [adjusted odds ratio 1.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.19, P = 0.01] and death [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.09, 95% CI 1.02–1.17, P = 0.01]. Compared with patients without myocardial injury, patients with myocardial injury had a lower prevalence of a CAC score of zero (25% vs. 55%, <iP > < 0.001); however, the CAC score did not emerge as a predictor of myocardial injury by multivariable logistic regression. Myocardial injury was independently associated with an increased risk of death by multivariable Cox regression (adjusted HR 2.25, 95% CI 1.27–3.96, P = 0.005). Older age, lower estimated glomerular filtration rate, and lower PaO<sub2>/FiO<sub2> ratio on admission were other independent predictors for both myocardial injury and death. Conclusions An increased PA diameter, as assessed by chest CT, is an independent risk factor for myocardial injury and mortality in patients with COVID-19. Myocardial injury is independently associated with an approximately two-fold increased risk of death. Translational perspective The present study identifies myocardial injury as a clinically relevant independent risk factor for death in the short term in a population of hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 outside of China undergoing chest computed tomography for suspected pneumonia on admission. The study also provides novel insights into the risk factors for myocardial injury, showing that an increased pulmonary artery diameter, assessed by chest computed tomography, is an independent predictor of myocardial injury as well as of mortality, suggesting that pulmonary circulation dysfunction is a pivotal pathological event with cardiac implications in COVID-19.

AimsCurrently, there are few available data regarding a possible role for subclinical atherosclerosis as a risk factor for mortality in Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) patients. We used coronary artery calcium (CAC) score derived from chest computed tomography (CT) scan to assess the in-hospital prognostic role of CAC in patients affected by COVID-19 pneumonia.MethodsElectronic medical records of patients with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with known coronary artery disease (CAD) were excluded. A CAC score was calculated for each patient and was used to categorize them into one of four groups: 0, 1–299, 300–999 and at least 1000. The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality for any cause.ResultsThe final population consisted of 282 patients. Fifty-seven patients (20%) died over a follow-up time of 40 days. The presence of CAC was detected in 144 patients (51%). Higher CAC score values were observed in nonsurvivors [median: 87, interquartile range (IQR): 0.0–836] compared with survivors (median: 0, IQR: 0.0–136). The mortality rate in patients with a CAC score of at least 1000 was significantly higher than in patients without coronary calcifications (50 vs. 11%) and CAC score 1–299 (50 vs. 23%), P < 0.05. After adjusting for clinical variables, the presence of any CAC categories was not an independent predictor of mortality; however, a trend for increased risk of mortality was observed in patients with CAC of at least 1000.ConclusionThe correlation between CAC score and COVID-19 is fascinating and under-explored. However, in multivariable analysis, the CAC score did not show an additional value over more robust clinical variables in predicting in-hospital mortality. Only patients with the highest atherosclerotic burden (CAC ≥1000) could represent a high-risk population, similarly to patients with known CAD.

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