Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has resulted in a health crisis and a significant number of deaths worldwide. The full effect on access to medical care and the treatment for patients with chronic diseases and acute conditions is still unknown. This is an investigation of access to primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for patients diagnosed with ST-segment myocardial infarction (STEMI) during the pandemic. METHODS: Consecutive patients who were diagnosed with STEMI and underwent PPCI during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were included in the study. Clinical and angiographic characteristics of the patients were assessed. A control group of patients diagnosed with STEMI and who underwent PPCI during the same time interval a year prior to the outbreak of the disease was analyzed retrospectively for comparison. RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in the number of STEMI cases during the COVID-19 crisis period. Furthermore, these patients had a prolonged ischemic time; they were more likely to have a longer pain-to-balloon (Odds ratio [OR]: 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-10.2) and door-to-balloon time (OR: 5.4, 95% CI: 3.1-22.8). CONCLUSION: Patients diagnosed with STEMI during the pandemic experienced a significant delay between the onset of symptoms and PPCI.

Evaluation of websites reached using Google in the modern digital era related to approach to cholesterol.

OBJECTIVE: The Google search engine is widely used as a source of medical information; however, legal and medical governance of the accuracy of the content retrieved is lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the most read Turkish-language texts related to cholesterol during a specific period according to the validity of the content. METHODS: Google Trends was queried on January 5, 2019 for the search term 'cholesterol' and the 9 other most popular search phrases used in Turkey that included the word cholesterol. In all, 100 links were obtained for each phrase, generating a total of 1000 links. Once duplicates were eliminated, a total of 604 links was used for the study. Since there is currently no validation scoring system for this purpose in the literature, the authors created a checklist according to well-accepted recent guidelines focused on cholesterol. The content of the texts acquired was classified as misleading, insufficient but favorable, or sufficient and favorable. RESULTS: The source of the online texts studied was universities (n=8, 1.3%), hospitals (n=6, 0.9%), personal blogs (n=200, 33.1%), health websites (n=183, 30.2%), and medical journals (n=207, 34.2%). In all, 235 texts (38.9%) were classified as sufficient and favorable and 35 (5.7%) were categorized as misleading. A medical practitioner was named in 378 texts (62.5%). All of the results from universities and hospitals were ranked in the favorable group. A statistical difference in the word count was seen in a comparison of the misleading and favorable texts. CONCLUSION: Google can connect users to a significant quantity of material related to cholesterol that includes a wide range from misleading information to sufficient and favorable texts. The variation in the quality of the content on websites accessible via Google necessitates that cholesterol resource material should be selected with great care.

Rationale and design of lifestyle intervention using mobile technology in patients with high cardiovascular risk: A pragmatic randomized clinical trial.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world and contributes a considerable burden to healthcare costs. Primary prevention strategies, particularly adopting healthy lifestyle habits, have great potential to reduce the risk of CVD. Patient compliance remains the major cause of the failure of primary prevention strategies. Telehealth interventions and gamification through mobile applications can increase adherence and reduce healthcare costs. The primary objective of this study is to compare the effect of lifestyle intervention using mobile technology plus usual care with usual care alone in patients with a high CVD risk.