Impact of vaccination on electrocardiograms of hospitalized patients for Covid-19

Marco Mele; Lucia Tricarico; Antonio Centola; Federica Mango; Andrea Favia; Francesca Croella; Valeria Le Rose; Andrea Cuculo; Irene Bottalico; Maria Cristina Poliseno; Sergio Lo Caputo; Teresa Santantonio; Natale Daniele Brunetti

doi:10.1016/j.jvacx.2023.100291

Impact of vaccination on electrocardiograms of hospitalized patients for Covid-19

Vaccine X. 2023 Aug:14:100291. doi: 10.1016/j.jvacx.2023.100291. Epub 2023 Apr 11.

Affiliations

¹ Cardiothoracic Department, Policlinico Riuniti Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
² University of Foggia, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Foggia, Italy.

Abstract

Introduction: We sought to assess the impact of SarsCov-2 vaccination on admission12-lead electrocardiogram of hospitalized patients.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed and compared admission 12-lead electrocardiograms of all patients hospitalized in dedicated Internal Medicine Unit for Covid-19 both in pre-vaccination period (PV) and after vaccination (V).

Results: 667 consecutive Covid-19 in-patients were enrolled in the study: PV hospitalized patients were older (68vs57 years, p < 0.01), had higher rates of atrial fibrillation/flutter (13%vs2.5%, p < 0.01), any arrhythmia (26%vs8%, p < 0.01), and ST-T abnormalities (22%vs7.4%, p < 0.01). Mortality rates in hospitalized Covid-19 patients were higher before vaccination period (20%vs4%, p < 0.01). Minimal vaccination coverage of population (V period) was inversely and independently associated with in-hospital mortality (odds ratio 0.09, 95%CI 0.01-0.68, p < 0.05).

Conclusions: SarsCov-2 vaccination campaign and even partial coverage of local population was associated with less frequent abnormalities at admission ECG in hospitalized non-critically hill Covid-19 patients and lower mortality.

Keywords: Covid-19; Electrocardiogram; Vaccination.