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Background and Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be associated with increased risk for ischemic stroke. We present prevalence and characteristics of strokes in patients with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 infection enrolled in the American Heart Association COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry. Methods: In this quality improvement registry study, we examined demographic, baseline clinical characteristics, and in-hospital outcomes among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The primary outcomes were ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and in-hospital death. Results: Among 21 073 patients with COVID-19 admitted at 107 hospitals between January 29, 2020, and November 23, 2020, 160 (0.75%) experienced acute ischemic stroke/TIA (55.3% of all acute strokes) and 129 (0.61%) had other types of stroke. Among nonischemic strokes, there were 44 (15.2%) intracerebral hemorrhages, 33 (11.4%) subarachnoid hemorrhages, 21 (7.3%) epidural/subdural hemorrhages, 2 (0.7%) cerebral venous sinus thromboses, and 24 (8.3%) strokes not otherwise classified. Asians and non-Hispanic Blacks were overrepresented among ischemic stroke/TIA patients compared with their overall representation in the registry, but adjusted odds of stroke did not vary by race. Median time from COVID-19 symptom onset to ischemic stroke was 11.5 days (interquartile range, 17.8); median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 11 (interquartile range, 17). COVID-19 patients with acute ischemic stroke/TIA had higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and atrial fibrillation compared with those without stroke. Intensive care unit admission and mechanical ventilation were associated with higher odds of acute ischemic stroke/TIA, but older age was not a predictor. In adjusted models, acute ischemic stroke/TIA was not associated with in-hospital mortality. Conclusions: Ischemic stroke risk did not vary by race. In contrast to the association between older age and death from COVID-19, ischemic stroke risk was the highest among middle-aged adults after adjusting for comorbidities and illness severity, suggesting a potential mechanism for ischemic stroke in COVID-19 independent of age-related atherosclerotic pathways.

Background The AHA Registry (American Heart Association COVID‐19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry) captures detailed information on hospitalized patients with COVID‐19. The registry, however, does not capture information on social determinants of health or long‐term outcomes. Here we describe the linkage of the AHA Registry with external data sources, including fee‐for‐service (FFS) Medicare claims, to fill these gaps and assess the representativeness of linked registry patients to the broader Medicare FFS population hospitalized with COVID‐19. Methods and Results We linked AHA Registry records of adults ≥65 years from March 2020 to September 2021 with Medicare FFS claims using a deterministic linkage algorithm and with the American Hospital Association Annual Survey, Rural Urban Commuting Area codes, and the Social Vulnerability Index using hospital and geographic identifiers. We compared linked individuals with unlinked FFS beneficiaries hospitalized with COVID‐19 to assess the representativeness of the AHA Registry. A total of 10 010 (47.0%) records in the AHA Registry were successfully linked to FFS Medicare claims. Linked and unlinked FFS beneficiaries were similar with respect to mean age (78.1 versus 77.9, absolute standardized difference [ASD] 0.03); female sex (48.3% versus 50.2%, ASD 0.04); Black race (15.1% versus 12.0%, ASD 0.09); dual‐eligibility status (26.1% versus 23.2%, ASD 0.07); and comorbidity burden. Linked patients were more likely to live in the northeastern United States (35.7% versus 18.2%, ASD 0.40) and urban/metropolitan areas (83.9% versus 76.8%, ASD 0.18). There were also differences in hospital‐level characteristics between cohorts. However, in‐hospital outcomes were similar (mortality, 23.3% versus 20.1%, ASD 0.08; home discharge, 45.5% versus 50.7%, ASD 0.10; skilled nursing facility discharge, 24.4% versus 22.2%, ASD 0.05). Conclusions Linkage of the AHA Registry with external data sources such as Medicare FFS claims creates a unique and generalizable resource to evaluate long‐term health outcomes after COVID‐19 hospitalization.

IMPORTANCE: Traditional models for predicting in-hospital mortality for patients with heart failure (HF) have used logistic regression and do not account for social determinants of health (SDOH). OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate novel machine learning (ML) models for HF mortality that incorporate SDOH. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This retrospective study used the data from the Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure (GWTG-HF) registry to identify HF hospitalizations between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2020. The study included patients with acute decompensated HF who were hospitalized at the GWTG-HF participating centers during the study period. Data analysis was performed January 6, 2021, to April 26, 2022. External validation was performed in the hospitalization cohort from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study between 2005 and 2014. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Random forest-based ML approaches were used to develop race-specific and race-agnostic models for predicting in-hospital mortality. Performance was assessed using C index (discrimination), regression slopes for observed vs predicted mortality rates (calibration), and decision curves for prognostic utility. RESULTS: The training data set included 123 634 hospitalized patients with HF who were enrolled in the GWTG-HF registry (mean [SD] age, 71 [13] years; 58 356 [47.2%] female individuals; 65 278 [52.8%] male individuals. Patients were analyzed in 2 categories: Black (23 453 [19.0%]) and non-Black (2121 [2.1%] Asian; 91 154 [91.0%] White, and 6906 [6.9%] other race and ethnicity). The ML models demonstrated excellent performance in the internal testing subset (n = 82 420) (C statistic, 0.81 for Black patients and 0.82 for non-Black patients) and in the real-world–like cohort with less than 50% missingness on covariates (n = 553 506; C statistic, 0.74 for Black patients and 0.75 for non-Black patients). In the external validation cohort (ARIC registry; n = 1205 Black patients and 2264 non-Black patients), ML models demonstrated high discrimination and adequate calibration (C statistic, 0.79 and 0.80, respectively). Furthermore, the performance of the ML models was superior to the traditional GWTG-HF risk score model (C index, 0.69 for both race groups) and other rederived logistic regression models using race as a covariate. The performance of the ML models was identical using the race-specific and race-agnostic approaches in the GWTG-HF and external validation cohorts. In the GWTG-HF cohort, the addition of zip code–level SDOH parameters to the ML model with clinical covariates only was associated with better discrimination, prognostic utility (assessed using decision curves), and model reclassification metrics in Black patients (net reclassification improvement, 0.22 [95% CI, 0.14-0.30]; P

Background and Purpose: Studies suggest an increased risk of adverse outcomes among patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: Using Get With The Guidelines–Stroke, we identified 41 971 patients (AIS/COVID-19: 1143; AIS/no COVID-19: 40 828) with AIS hospitalized between February 4, 2020 and June 29, 2020, from 458 Get With The Guidelines–Stroke hospitals with at least one COVID-19 case and evaluated clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes. Results: Compared with patients with AIS/no COVID-19, those with AIS/COVID-19 were younger, more likely to be non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, or Asian, more likely to present with higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores, and had greater proportions of large vessel occlusions. Rates of thrombolysis and thrombectomy were similar between the groups. Door to computed tomography (median 55 [18–207] versus 35 [14–99] minutes, P P P =0.002) times were longer in the AIS/COVID-19 cohort. In adjusted models, patients with AIS/COVID-19 had decreased odds of discharge with modified Rankin Scale score of ≤2 (odds ratio, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.52–0.81], P P ConclusionS: This analysis demonstrates younger age, greater stroke severity, longer times to evaluation and treatment, and worse morbidity and mortality in patients with AIS/COVID-19 compared with those with AIS/no COVID-19.

Background Emerging evidence links acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with COVID‐19 with higher mortality and respiratory morbidity, but the relationship of AKI with cardiovascular disease outcomes has not been reported in this population. We sought to evaluate associations between chronic kidney disease (CKD), AKI, and mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID‐19. Methods and Results In a large multicenter registry including 8574 patients with COVID‐19 from 88 US hospitals, data were collected on baseline characteristics and serial laboratory data during index hospitalization. Primary exposure variables were CKD (categorized as no CKD, CKD, and end‐stage kidney disease) and AKI (classified into no AKI or stages 1, 2, or 3 using a modification of the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes guideline definition). The primary outcome was all‐cause mortality. The key secondary outcome was major adverse cardiac events, defined as cardiovascular death, nonfatal stroke, nonfatal myocardial infarction, new‐onset nonfatal heart failure, and nonfatal cardiogenic shock. CKD and end‐stage kidney disease were not associated with mortality or major adverse cardiac events after multivariate adjustment. In contrast, AKI was significantly associated with mortality (stage 1 hazard ratio [HR], 1.72 [95% CI, 1.46–2.03]; stage 2 HR, 1.83 [95% CI, 1.52–2.20]; stage 3 HR, 1.69 [95% CI, 1.44–1.98]; versus no AKI) and major adverse cardiac events (stage 1 HR, 2.17 [95% CI, 1.74–2.71]; stage 2 HR, 2.70 [95% CI, 2.07–3.51]; stage 3 HR, 3.06 [95% CI, 2.52–3.72]; versus no AKI). Conclusions This large study demonstrates a significant association between AKI and all‐cause mortality and, for the first time, major adverse cardiovascular events in patients hospitalized with COVID‐19.

Key Points Question What factors are associated with observed trends in the in-hospital mortality rates in the United States during the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic? Findings In this cohort study of 20 736 patients, in-hospital mortality rates decreased in the US between March and November 2020, even after accounting for the changing mix in patient age, sex, comorbidities, and disease severity at the time of admission. Hospital and intensive care unit length of stay and use of mechanical ventilation decreased over time, whereas the use of glucocorticoids and remdesivir increased. Meaning Changes in age, sex, comorbidities, and disease severity among patients with COVID-19 do not fully explain the decrease in the in-hospital mortality rates observed during the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic., Importance In-hospital mortality rates from COVID-19 are high but appear to be decreasing for selected locations in the United States. It is not known whether this is because of changes in the characteristics of patients being admitted. Objective To describe changing in-hospital mortality rates over time after accounting for individual patient characteristics. Design, Setting, and Participants This was a retrospective cohort study of 20 736 adults with a diagnosis of COVID-19 who were included in the US American Heart Association COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry and admitted to 107 acute care hospitals in 31 states from March through November 2020. A multiple mixed-effects logistic regression was then used to estimate the odds of in-hospital death adjusted for patient age, sex, body mass index, and medical history as well as vital signs, use of supplemental oxygen, presence of pulmonary infiltrates at admission, and hospital site. Main Outcomes and Measures In-hospital death adjusted for exposures for 4 periods in 2020. Results The registry included 20 736 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from March through November 2020 (9524 women [45.9%]; mean [SD] age, 61.2 [17.9] years); 3271 patients (15.8%) died in the hospital. Mortality rates were 19.1% in March and April, 11.9% in May and June, 11.0% in July and August, and 10.8% in September through November. Compared with March and April, the adjusted odds ratios for in-hospital death were significantly lower in May and June (odds ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.58-0.76; P, This cohort study of patients included in the US American Heart Association COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry evaluates whether any changes in the in-hospital COVID-19 mortality rates during the first 9 months of the pandemic are associated with individual characteristics of patients with COVID-19.