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The current study assessed performance of the new Veterans Affairs (VA) women cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk score in predicting women veterans' 60-day CVD event risk using VA COVID-19 shared cohort data. The study data included 17,264 women veterans-9658 White, 6088 African American, and 1518 Hispanic women veterans-ever treated at US VA hospitals and clinics between 24 February and 25 November 2020. The VA women CVD risk score discriminated patients with CVD events at 60 days from those without CVD events with accuracy (area under the curve) of 78%, 50%, and 83% for White, African American, and Hispanic women veterans, respectively. The VA women CVD risk score itself showed good accuracy in predicting CVD events at 60 days for White and Hispanic women veterans, while it performed poorly for African American women veterans. The future studies are needed to identify non-traditional factors and biomarkers associated with increased CVD risk specific to African American women and incorporate them to the CVD risk assessment.

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is a contagious life-threatening viral disease that has killed more than three million people worldwide to date. Attempts have been made to identify biomarker(s) to stratify disease severity and improve treatment and resource allocation. Patients with SARS-COV-2 infection manifest with a higher inflammatory response and platelet hyperreactivity; this raises the question of the role of thrombopoiesis in COVID-19 infection. Immature platelet fraction (IPF, %) and immature platelet counts (IPC, ×10 9 /l) can be used to assess thrombopoiesis. This study investigates whether the level of thrombopoiesis correlates with COVID-19 severity. A large cohort of 678 well-characterized COVID-19 patients was analyzed, including 658 (97%) hospitalized and 139 (21%) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Elevated percentage IPF at presentation was predictive of length of hospitalization (P < 0·01) and ICU admission (P < 0·05). Additionally, percentage IPF at the peak was significantly higher among ICU patients than non-ICU patients (6·9 ± 5·1 vs 5·3 ± 8·4, P < 0·01) and among deceased patients than recovered patients (7·9 ± 6·3 vs 5·4 ± 7·8, P < 0·01). Furthermore, IPC at the peak was significantly higher among ICU patients than non-ICU patients (18·5 ± 16·2 vs. 13·2 ± 8·3, P < 0·05) and among patients on a ventilator than those not (22·1 ± 20·1 vs.13·4 ± 8·4, P < 0·05). Our study demonstrated that elevated initial and peak values of percentage IPF and IPC might serve as prognostic biomarkers for COVID-19 progression to severe conditions., (© 2021 British Society for Haematology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The burden of COVID-19 has been noted to be disproportionately greater in minority women, a population that is nevertheless still understudied in COVID-19 research. We conducted an observational study to examine COVID-19-associated mortality and cardiovascular disease outcomes after testing (henceforth index) among a racially diverse adult women veteran population. We assembled a retrospective cohort from a Veterans Affairs (VA) national COVID-19 shared data repository, collected between February and August 2020. A case was defined as a woman veteran who tested positive for SARS-COV-2, and a control as a woman veteran who tested negative. We used Kaplan-Meier curves and the Cox proportional hazards model to examine the distribution of time to death and the effects of baseline predictors on mortality risk. We used generalized linear models to examine 60-day cardiovascular disease outcomes. Covariates studied included age, body mass index (BMI), and active smoking status at index, and pre-existing conditions of diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and a history of treatment with antiplatelet or anti-thrombotic drug at any time in the 2 years prior to the index date. Women veterans who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 had 4 times higher mortality risk than women veterans who tested negative (Hazard Ratio 3.8, 95% Confidence Interval CI 2.92 to 4.89) but had lower risk of cardiovascular events (Odds Ratio OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.92) and developing new heart disease conditions within 60 days (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.77). Older age, obesity (BMI > 30), and prior CVD and COPD conditions were positively associated with increased mortality in 60 days. Despite a higher infection rate among minority women veterans, there was no significant race difference in mortality, cardiovascular events, or onset of heart disease. SARS-CoV-2 infection increased short-term mortality risk among women veterans similarly across race groups. However, there was no evidence of increased cardiovascular disease incidence in 60 days. A longer follow-up of women veterans who tested positive is warranted.