Impact of COVID-19-related public containment measures on the ST elevation myocardial infarction epidemic in Belgium: a nationwide, serial, cross-sectional study.
Acta Cardiol
; 76(8): 863-869, 2021 Oct.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32727305
ABSTRACT
AIMS:
The current study assessed the impact of COVID-19-related public containment measures (i.e. lockdown) on the ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) epidemic in Belgium. METHODS ANDRESULTS:
Clinical characteristics, reperfusion therapy modalities, COVID-19 status and in-hospital mortality of consecutive STEMI patients who were admitted to Belgian hospitals for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were recorded during a three-week period starting at the beginning of the lockdown period on 13 March 2020. Similar data were collected for the same time period for 2017-2019. An evaluation of air quality revealed a 32% decrease in ambient NO2 concentrations during lockdown (19.5 µg/m³ versus 13.2 µg/m³, p < .001). During the three-week period, there were 188 STEMI patients admitted for PCI during the lockdown versus an average 254 STEMI patients before the lockdown period (incidence rate ratio = 0.74, p = .001). Reperfusion strategy was predominantly primary PCI in both time periods (96% versus 95%). However, there was a significant delay in treatment during the lockdown period, with more late presentations (>12 h after onset of pain) (14% versus 7.6%, p = .04) and with longer door-to-balloon times (median of 45 versus 39 min, p = .02). Although the in-hospital mortality between the two periods was comparable (5.9% versus 6.7%), 5 of the 7 (71%) COVID-19-positive STEMI patients died.CONCLUSION:
The present study revealed a 26% reduction in STEMI admissions and a delay in treatment of STEMI patients. Less exposure to external STEMI triggers (such as ambient air pollution) and/or reluctance to seek medical care are possible explanations of this observation.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Controle de Doenças Transmissíveis
/
Epidemias
/
Intervenção Coronária Percutânea
/
Infarto do Miocárdio com Supradesnível do Segmento ST
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Acta Cardiol
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Bélgica