Editorial comment to “Impact of COVID‐19 infection on the in‐hospital outcome of patients hospitalized for heart failure with comorbid atrial fibrillation: Insight from National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database 2020”

Relevant cardiovascular diseases include myocarditis, acute coronary syndrome, heart failure (HF), thromboembolisms, and arrhythmias.2 It is also important to note that having COVID-19 results in more complicated clinical courses and higher mortalities in patients with preexisting cardiac conditions.3 The present study by Wattanachayakul et al. utilized a big database of the US Healthcare systems and revealed a strong relation between COVID-19 infection and adverse outcomes in hospitalized HF patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). RELATIONSHIP OF HF/AF TO COVID-19 AND ASSOCIATED RISK A number of retrospective studies reported more severe conditions and a higher mortality among HF patients with COVID-19, and that HF was an independent risk factor for acute circulatory failure, renal failure, and multiorgan failure in patients with COVID-19.2 It was also reported that COVID-19 infection is associated with an increasing incidence of atrial fibrillation.4 A preexisting AF is associated with an increased mortality of over twofold in COVID-19 Patients.5 From another aspect, the present study demonstrated that hospitalized HF patients with AF and COVID-19 had over threefold higher in-hospital mortality compared with those without COVID-19. Effect of heart failure on the outcome of COVID‐19—a meta analysis and systematic review.