Recovery from Severe COVID-19 Is an Independent Predictor of Electrocardiographic Abnormal P-Wave Axis

• Published in: Diagnostics (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 13; p. 1326
• Main Authors: Yılmaz, Mücahid, Mirzaoğlu, Çetin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22.06.2024
• Subjects: abnormal P-wave axis; Blood pressure; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiovascular disease; COVID-19; Hospitals; Hypertension; Laboratories; Normal distribution; recovery from severe COVİD-19; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; supraventricular arrhythmia; Variables; United States > US; Netherlands; abnormal P-wave axis; recovery from severe COVİD-19; supraventricular arrhythmia
• ISSN: 2075-4418; 2075-4418
• DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics14131326

Abnormal P-wave axis (aPwa) have been correlated with an increased risk of supraventricular arrhythmias. The aim of this study was to analyze whether infection with COVID-19 may cause a predisposition for supraventricular arrhythmia in the long term, following recovery. In this study, a total of 252 subjects with a confirmed history of COVID-19 (recovered COVID-19) and 251 healthy subjects without a history of COVID-19 were included. The recovered COVID-19 group was divided into three subgroups designated as mild, moderate, and severe according to the severity score of their chest CT. The aPwa data were obtained using 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) and compared between the healthy subjects and the recovered COVID-19 subgroups. This study showed that in the recovered severe COVID-19 subgroup the prevalence of aPwa was significantly increased compared to the controls and the other COVID-19 subgroups. No correlation could be detected in Spearman's Rho correlation between the existence of aPwa and the number of positive PCR tests for COVID-19 and the time elapsed after infection with COVID-19. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that recovery from severe COVID-19, the severity score of the chest CT in the recovered from COVID-19 subjects, and the existence of hypertension (HT) were all independent predictors of aPwa (hazard ratio: 3.542, 95% confidence interval: 1.398-8.969, : 0.01; hazard ratio: 0.896, 95% confidence interval: 0.840-0.955, < 0.001; hazard ratio: 2.710, 95% confidence interval: 1.079-6.804, : 0.03, respectively). Individuals who have recovered from severe COVID-19 have shown an increased prevalence of aPwa. The existence of aPwa was not associated with the number of positive PCR tests for COVID-19 or the time elapsed after infection with COVID-19. Therefore, recovery from severe COVID-19 is an independent predictor of electrocardiographic abnormal P-wave axis.