1. Impact of COVID-19-related public containment measures on the ST elevation myocardial infarction epidemic in Belgium: a nationwide, serial, cross-sectional study
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P Evrard, Suzanne Pourbaix, Jean-François Argacha, Patrick Marechal, Claude Hanet, Frans Fierens, Marc Carlier, Peter Sinnaeve, Sofie Gevaert, Patrick Coussement, Christophe Beauloye, Dan Schelfaut, Vincent Floré, Olivier Van Caenegem, Olivier Brasseur, Marc J. Claeys, Walter Desmet, Philippe Dubois, Philippe Collart, Francis Stammen, Clinical sciences, Cardio-vascular diseases, Cardiology, Biology, UCL - SSS/IREC/MEDA - Pôle de médecine aiguë, UCL - SSS/IREC/CARD - Pôle de recherche cardiovasculaire, UCL - (MGD) Services des soins intensifs, UCL - (MGD) Service de cardiologie, UCL - (SLuc) Service de pathologie cardiovasculaire, UCL - (SLuc) Service de pathologies cardiovasculaires intensives, and UCL - (SLuc) Service de soins intensifs
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medicine.medical_specialty ,2019-20 coronavirus outbreak ,Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Cross-sectional study ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,030204 cardiovascular system & hematology ,STEMI ,containment ,03 medical and health sciences ,Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ,0302 clinical medicine ,Belgium ,St elevation myocardial infarction ,pollution ,Humans ,Medicine ,cardiovascular diseases ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Mortality ,Epidemics ,Science & Technology ,business.industry ,ENVIRONMENTAL TRIGGERS ,COVID-19 ,PCI ,General Medicine ,mortality ,Pollution ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,surgical procedures, operative ,Communicable Disease Control ,Emergency medicine ,Conventional PCI ,Cardiovascular System & Cardiology ,ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction ,Human medicine ,Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ,business ,Life Sciences & Biomedicine - 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 AND RESULTS: 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 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. ispartof: ACTA CARDIOLOGICA vol:76 issue:8 pages:863-869 ispartof: location:England status: published
- Published
- 2020
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