Cardio-oncology & otherCohort study
Burden of Cardiovascular Outcomes After SARS-CoV-2 Infection in South Korea and Japan: A Binational Population-Based Cohort Study
- Population-based cohort study
- binational
- nationwide
- propensity score-based overlap weighting
- discovery and validation cohorts
Authors' conclusion
This binational study observed associations between SARS-CoV-2 infection and cardiovascular events during extended follow-up across viral eras. Complete vaccination was linked to lower cardiovascular events. However, the absolute risk of cardiovascular disease events after SARS-CoV-2 infection remained remarkably low, particularly for stroke and ischemic heart disease.
Study context
- Population
- Adults aged ≥20 years in Korean (K-CONV-N, discovery) and Japanese (JMDC, validation) nationwide cohorts, January 1, 2020 to December 31, 20227,960,357 in overlap-weighted discovery cohort
- Exposure
- SARS-CoV-2 infection vs no infection
- Outcome
- Risk of incident CVD based on ICD code diagnosis
- Follow-up
- Long-term (up to 18 months)
Main finding
Overall CV outcomes · long-term
Adjusted hazard ratio
1.62
95% CI 1.60–1.64
By group
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | adjusted HR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Specific CV outcomes · ischemic heart disease | 1.81 (1.77–1.84) | |
| Specific CV outcomes · HF | 1.79 (1.73–1.85) | |
| Specific CV outcomes · cerebrovascular disorders | 1.65 (1.60–1.69) | |
| Specific CV outcomes · MACE | 1.65 (1.60–1.70) | |
| Specific CV outcomes · inflammatory heart diseases | 1.53 (1.31–1.80) | |
| Specific CV outcomes · dysrhythmia | 1.44 (1.42–1.46) | |
| Specific CV outcomes · thrombotic disorders | 1.42 (1.35–1.48) | |
| 0.512Adjusted hazard ratio (log scale) |
Absolute risk: stroke and ischemic heart disease
Stroke
Ischemic heart disease
Time course, severity, vaccination, viral era, validation
- Increased risk persisted up to 18 months, highest 1 to 6 months after infection
- Risk pronounced with COVID-19 severity; decreased with complete vaccination and booster doses
- Similar risk across pre-delta, delta and omicron eras
- Similar patterns in the validation cohort
Original publication
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it