Objective: Data on the characteristics and outcomes of patients with hematologic cancers undergoing cardiovascular (CV) admissions in real-world settings are limited.
Methods: This study used data from the National Inpatient Sample (2016-2020), including all CV admissions. Patients were stratified based on the presence of hematologic cancers and their subtypes. The primary outcome was the cause of CV admission, and the secondary outcome was all-cause mortality. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression (adjusted odds ratios [aOR]) were used to compare outcomes across groups.
Results: Of 5,957,492 CV admissions, 78,670 (1.3%) patients were admitted with hematologic cancer. These patients were older (median age 75 vs. 70-72 years) and had a higher prevalence of comorbidities such as atrial fibrillation, thrombocytopenia, anemia, congestive heart failure, valvular disease, coagulopathy, and chronic renal failure, compared with patients with other cancer and those without cancer. Hypertension was the most common cause of CV admission (30.7% vs. 20.4-27.3% in others), followed by atrial fibrillation/flutter and heart failure/valve disorders. In-hospital mortality was higher in patients with hematologic cancer, especially for chronic ischemic heart disease (aOR 2.35, 95% CI 1.90-2.91, p < 0.001). Within hematologic cancers, acute hemorrhagic stroke had the highest mortality, particularly, in leukemia (28.7% vs. 25.3-26.5%, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Patients with hematologic cancers admitted with a CV cause exhibit distinct patterns of CV admission causes, with hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure being the most common, and experience higher mortality than patients without cancer during CV admissions.
Keywords: Cardiovascular admissions; Hematologic cancers; National inpatient sample.
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