Do underlying cardiovascular diseases have any impact on hospitalised patients with COVID-19?

Objectives An outbreak of the highly contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has sickened thousands of people in China. The purpose of this study was to explore the early clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods This is a retrospective analysis of patients with COVID-19 from a single centre. All patients underwent real-time reverse transcription PCR for SARS-CoV-2 on admission. Demographic and clinical factors and laboratory data were reviewed and collected to evaluate for significant associations. Results The study included 541 patients with COVID-19. A total of 144 (26.6%) patients had a history of CVD. The mortality of patients with CVD reached 22.2%, which was higher than that of the overall population of this study (9.8%). Patients with CVD were also more likely to develop liver function abnormality, elevated blood creatinine and lactic dehydrogenase (p Conclusions Considering the high prevalence of CVD, a thorough CVD assessment at diagnosis and early intervention are recommended in COVID-19 patients with CVD. Patients with CVD are more vulnerable to deterioration.