The study, presented at ESC Congress 2022, found that the vaccines were not associated with an increased risk of worsening heart failure, venous thromboembolism or myocarditis in patients with heart failure. “Our results suggest that heart failure patients should be prioritized for Covid-19 vaccinations and boosters,” said study author Caroline Sindet-Pedersen from Herlev and Gentofe Hospital, Hellerup, Denmark. For the study, the team included 50,893 unvaccinated heart failure patients in 2019 and 50,893 heart failure patients in 2021 who were vaccinated with either mRNA vaccine (BNT162B2 or mRNA-1273). The two groups were matched for age, sex, and duration of heart failure. The median age of the participants was 74 years, and 35 percent were women, and the median duration of heart failure was 4.1 years. Participants were followed for 90 days for all-cause mortality, worsening heart failure, venous thromboembolism, and myocarditis, starting on the date of the second vaccination for the 2021 group and the same date in 2019 for the unvaccinated group. The researchers compared the risk of adverse outcomes in the two groups, after standardizing for age, sex, duration of heart failure, use of heart failure medications, ischemic heart disease, cancer, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, and admission with heart failure less than 90 days. before the first follow-up date. Among 101,786 patients with heart failure, the researchers found that receiving an mRNA vaccine was not associated with an increased risk of worsening heart failure, myocarditis, or venous thromboembolism, but was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. The standardized risk of all-cause mortality within 90 days was 2.2 percent in the 2021 group (vaccinated) and 2.6 percent in the 2019 group (unvaccinated), indicating a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality in 2021 compared to 2019. 20220822-121603
