Clinical and economic outcomes of pharmacological stress tests in patients with a history of COVID‐19

BACKGROUND: Despite millions of COVID‐19 cases in the United States, it remains unknown whether a history of COVID‐19 infection impacts the safety of pharmacologic myocardial perfusion imaging stress testing (pharmacologic MPI). HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to assess if a prior COVID‐19 infection was associated with a higher risk of complications during and following pharmacologic MPI testing. METHODS: This retrospective cohort analysis included 179 803 adults (≥18 years) from the PharMetrics® Plus claims database who underwent pharmacologic MPI between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. Patients with a history of COVID‐19 infection (COVID‐19 group) were compared with propensity‐score matched no‐COVID‐19 history group for reversal agent use, 30‐day resource use, and post‐MPI cardiac events/procedures. RESULTS: The most commonly used stress agent was regadenoson (91.7%). The COVID‐19 group (n = 6372; 3.5%) had slightly higher: reversal agent use (difference 1.13% [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.33, 1.92]), all‐cause costs (difference USD $128 [95% CI: $73–$181]), and office visits (81.5% vs. 77.0%) than the no‐COVID‐19 group. Prior COVID‐19 infection did not appear to impact subsequent cardiac events/procedures. CONCLUSIONS: COVID‐19 history was associated with slightly higher reversal agent use, all‐cause costs, and office visits after pharmacologic MPI; however, the differences were not clinically meaningful. Concerns for use of stress agents in patients with prior COVID‐19 do not appear to be warranted.