scholarly journals Acute coronary syndrome in COVID-19 times: could it be business as usual?

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Ferreira ◽  
M Fonseca ◽  
JM Farinha ◽  
AF Esteves ◽  
A Pinheiro ◽  
...  

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background In an attempt to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, several measures of social distancing and reorganization of health care systems have been adopted. In Portugal, these included suspending elective clinical activity and a temporary national lockdown. Data from multiple centres, including central hospitals in Portugal, has shown a reduction in hospital admissions for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) during the COVID-19 outbreak. Fear of going to the hospital and physical inactivity have been pointed as possible explanations. Purpose to assess the impact of this pandemic and the measures taken against it on the pattern of admissions and treatment of patients with ACS in a district hospital.  Methods A single-centre retrospective study was conducted in the Cardiology Department of a Portuguese district hospital, capable of performing 24h percutaneous coronary intervention. We analyzed the admissions for ACS during the peak of the first COVID-19 outbreak in Portugal (16th of March to 3rd of May 2020, coinciding with the suspension of elective activity) and compared it with two control periods: one immediately preceding the study period (27th of January to 15th of March - 2020 control) and one exactly one year before (16th of March to 3rd of May 2019 - 2019 control). Results During the 7 weeks of the first COVID-19 outbreak, 46 patients were hospitalized for ACS in our department, while 54 had been admitted during the 2020 control period and 40 in the 2019 control period, with a mean of 7 admissions/week (vs 8 and 6, respectively; p > 0.05). There were no significant differences between the study group and both controls regarding basal characteristics. Their presentation did not differ: the majority of patients (57%) was admitted for ST-elevation myocardial infarction and median time from symptom onset to admission to the emergency room was 3 hours, with 4% of patients presenting in Killip class ≥III (p > 0.05 for all). We also found no significant differences in the treatment administered nor in the outcomes (96% submitted to coronary angiography, median length of hospitalization of 4 days and in-hospital mortality rate of 2%, p > 0.05 for all).  Conclusions Our study suggests that the reduction in admissions for ACS during the COVID-19 outbreak is not universal. Additionally, severity at presentation, treatment administered and outcomes did not seem to differ. The relatively low prevalence of COVID-19 in our hospital"s region might be the cause, since people might fear and refrain less from going to the hospital. Larger studies with other centres in low-prevalence regions are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1004
Author(s):  
Roxana Hodas ◽  
Imre Benedek ◽  
Nora Rat ◽  
Istvan Kovacs ◽  
Monica Chitu ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on cardiovascular emergencies. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a regional network for management of ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods: We report a single center’s experience of patients hospitalized for ACS in a high-volume hub of a STEMI network during the lockdown (in the first pandemic trimester), compared with the same time interval of the previous year and including all consecutive patients referred for an AMI during the second trimester of 2020 (from April to June) or during the same time interval of the previous year, 2019. Results: The absolute number of hospital admissions for AMI decreased by 22.3%, while the non-AMI hospitalizations decreased by 77.14% in Q2-2020 compared to Q2-2019 (210 vs. 48, p < 0.0001). As a consequence, the percentage of AMI cases from the total number of hospital admission increased from 38% to 68% (p < 0.0001), AMI becoming the dominant pathology. In the STEMI group there was a significant reduction of 55% in the absolute number of late STEMI presentations. Functionality of the STEMI network at the hub level did not present a significant alteration with only a minor increase in the door-to-balloon time, from 34 min to 41 min. However, at the level of the network we recorded a lower number of critical cases transferred to the interventional center, with a dramatic reduction of 56.1% in the number of critical STEMI cases arriving in the acute cardiac care unit (17.0% vs. 7.3%, p-0.04 for KILLIP class III, and 21.17% vs. 11.11%, p = 0.08 for resuscitated out of hospital cardiac arrest). Conclusions: The COVID-19 outbreak did not have a major impact on the interventional center’s functionality, but it limited the capacity of the regional STEMI network to bring the critical patient with complicated STEMI to the cathlab in time during the first months of the lockdown. Even a very well-functioning STEMI network like the one in Central Romania had difficulties bringing the most critical STEMI cases to the cathlab in time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grigorios Tsigkas ◽  
Eleni-Evangelia Koufou ◽  
Konstantinos Katsanos ◽  
Panagiotis Patrinos ◽  
Athanasios Moulias ◽  
...  

Aims: To evaluate the impact of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle changes of the general population, and on admissions for acute coronary syndrome (ACS).Methods and Results: All ACS admissions during the COVID-19 lockdown (10 March to 4 May, 2020), in 3 municipalities (3 spoke, and 1 hub hospital), in Southwestern Greece (411,576 inhabitants), were prospectively recorded and compared to the equivalent periods during 2018, and 2019. A telephone survey of 1014 participants was conducted to explore the lifestyle habits of citizens aged ≥35-years-old before and during lockdown. The median ACS incidence rate decreased from 19.0 cases per week in 2018 and 21.5 in 2019 down to 13.0 in 2020 (RR: 0.66 during the Covid-19 lockdown; 95%CI: 0.53–0.82; P = 0.0002). This was driven by a significant reduction of admissions for Non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) (RR: 0.68; 95%CI: 0.52–0.88; P = 0.0037), mainly in patients with a lower burden of cardiovascular risk factors, as we noticed an inverse association between the reduction of the incidence of ACS during the Covid-19 lockdown period and the number of registered patient risk factors. There was no difference in the rates of STEMI and population-based all-cause mortality across the examined time periods. The telephone survey demonstrated reduction of passive smoking, working hours, alcohol, junk food and salt consumption, and an increase in sleeping hours, mainly in participants with a lower burden of cardiovascular risk factors.Conclusions: A significant decline in ACS admissions during the COVID-19 lockdown was noted, affecting mainly NSTEMI patients with a lower burden of cardiovascular risk factors. This was accompanied by significant lifestyle changes. Thus, it is tempting to speculate that to some extend the latter might be associated with the observed decline in ACS admissions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e000840
Author(s):  
Lianne Parkin ◽  
Sheila Williams ◽  
David Barson ◽  
Katrina Sharples ◽  
Simon Horsburgh ◽  
...  

BackgroundCardiovascular comorbidity is common among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and there is concern that long-acting bronchodilators (long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMAs) and long-acting beta2 agonists (LABAs)) may further increase the risk of acute coronary events. Information about the impact of treatment intensification on acute coronary syndrome (ACS) risk in real-world settings is limited. We undertook a nationwide nested case–control study to estimate the risk of ACS in users of both a LAMA and a LABA relative to users of a LAMA.MethodsWe used routinely collected national health and pharmaceutical dispensing data to establish a cohort of patients aged >45 years who initiated long-acting bronchodilator therapy for COPD between 1 February 2006 and 30 December 2013. Fatal and non-fatal ACS events during follow-up were identified using hospital discharge and mortality records. For each case we used risk set sampling to randomly select up to 10 controls, matched by date of birth, sex, date of cohort entry (first LAMA and/or LABA dispensing), and COPD severity.ResultsFrom the cohort (n=83 417), we identified 5399 ACS cases during 281 292 person-years of follow-up. Compared with current use of LAMA therapy, current use of LAMA and LABA dual therapy was associated with a higher risk of ACS (OR 1.28 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.44)). The OR in an analysis restricted to fatal cases was 1.46 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.91).ConclusionIn real-world clinical practice, use of two versus one long-acting bronchodilator by people with COPD is associated with a higher risk of ACS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Von Renteln ◽  
S Hassan ◽  
K Szummer ◽  
R Edfors ◽  
D Venetsanos ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) are often aimed at the culprit vessel in acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) followed by revascularisation of other stenoses later in the index hospitalisation or shortly after discharge. PCI delay of non-culprit coronary vessels stenoses is supported by lower contrast fluid use and thrombocyte aggregation. Distinct coronary interventions increase the risk of both non- and coronary artery complications, e.g. acute abdominal and periphery artery bleeding, suggesting undertaking all PCIs at the same time. Purpose To assess the effect on mortality and re-myocardial infarction (MI) of immediate versus staged revascularisation in multivessel coronary disease, with the latter constrained to initial PCI of the culprit coronary vessel. Methods The syntax of “randomised controlled trial (RCT) & acute coronary syndrome & complete revascularisation” was undertaken in PubMed. Clinical characteristics were gathered at the index hospitalisation. The intervention scenario was acute coronary syndrome or not. Meta-analyses calculated relative risk (RR) reductions on outcomes of 1) mortality and 2) re-MI. Meta-regression assessed linear difference between interventional treatment benefits and baseline characteristics. Results A total of 148 studies was found. Of those, 8 was found eligible for further analyses and their baseline characteristics are shown in Table 1. Comparison of immediate versus staged revascularisation on mortality was nonsignificant (RR, 1.19; 95% CI: 0.78–1.81, p=0.43) (Figure 1). The impact of Immediate vs staged revascularisation on re-MI was also nonsignificant (RR, 0.83; 95% CI: 0.44–1.55, p=0.56). Meta-regression found no associations between the outcomes and study characteristics (not shown). Conclusion The intervention of immediate compared to staged revascularisation assessed on outcomes of all-cause mortality and re-MI were nonsignificant. Figure 1 Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
B Narasimhan ◽  
K Ho ◽  
L Wu ◽  
M Amreia ◽  
A Isath ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The obesity paradox – indicating improved short term mortality in obese individuals has been widely explored in a number of cardiovascular conditions. However, its validity in an elderly population and the possible physiological impact of aging on this phenomenon in Acute Coronary syndrome (ACS) remain unclear. In this study, we aim to determine the relationship between obesity and in-hospital mortality, morbidity, and health care resource utilization in this cohort of patients. Methods A retrospective study was conducted using the AHRQ-HCUP National Inpatient Sample for the year 2014. Elderly adults (≥65 years) with a principal diagnosis of ACS and a secondary diagnosis of obesity were identified using ICD-9 diagnosis codes as described in the literature. The primary outcome of in-hospital mortality and secondary outcomes like length of hospital stay (LOS), and total hospitalization costs were analyzed. Propensity score (PS) using the next neighbor method without replacement with 1:1 matching was utilized to adjust for confounders. Independent risk factors for mortality were identified using a multivariate logistic regression model. Results In total, 1,137,108 hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of ACS were identified, of which 7.46% were obese. In-hospital morality during the index admission was lower among obese patients with ACS compared to non-obese patients (4.62 vs 6.87%, p&lt;0.001) with significantly lower 30-day readmission rates as well (p&lt;0.001). However, in-hospital mortality rates during readmission were statistically equivalent between the obese and non-obese groups (5.6 vs 8.3%, p=0.72). LOS during the index admission was longer for obese patients (6.39 vs 5.36 days, p=0.65) but equivalent to non-obese patients during subsequent readmissions (p=0.12). The total cost of these admissions was significantly more in the obese cohort as well (p&lt;0.001). Conclusion In this study, obese elderly patients admitted with ACS were found to have significantly reduced in-hospital mortality and 30-day readmission rates when compared to non-obese patients - reinforcing the obesity paradox independent of patient age. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Elharram ◽  
A Sharma ◽  
W White ◽  
G Bakris ◽  
P Rossignol ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The timing of enrolment following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) may influence cardiovascular (CV) outcomes and potentially treatment effect in clinical trials. Using a large contemporary trial in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) post-ACS, we examined the impact of timing of enrolment on subsequent CV outcomes. Methods EXAMINE was a randomized trial of alogliptin versus placebo in 5380 patients with T2DM and a recent ACS. The primary outcome was a composite of CV death, non-fatal myocardial infarction [MI], or non-fatal stroke. The median follow-up was 18 months. In this post hoc analysis, we examined the occurrence of subsequent CV events by timing of enrollment divided by tertiles of time from ACS to randomization: 8–34, 35–56, and 57–141 days. Results Patients randomized early (compared to the latest times) had less comorbidities at baseline including a history of heart failure (HF; 24.7% vs. 33.0%), prior coronary artery bypass graft (9.6% vs. 15.9%), or atrial fibrillation (5.9% vs. 9.4%). Despite the reduced comorbidity burden, the risk of the primary outcome was highest in patients randomized early compared to the latest time (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.47; 95% CI 1.21–1.74) (Figure 1). Similarly, patients randomized early had an increased risk of recurrent MI (aHR 1.51; 95% CI 1.17–1.96) and HF hospitalization (1.49; 95% CI 1.05–2.10). Conclusion In a contemporary cohort of T2DM with a recent ACS, early randomization following the ACS increases the risk of CV events including recurrent MI and HF hospitalization. This should be taken into account when designing future clinical trials. Figure 1 Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Private grant(s) and/or Sponsorship. Main funding source(s): Takeda Pharmaceutical


Heart ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 103 (Suppl 5) ◽  
pp. A51-A52
Author(s):  
Chun Shing Kwok ◽  
Mohammed Al-Dokheal ◽  
Sami Aldaham ◽  
Claire Rushton ◽  
Robert Butler ◽  
...  

Open Heart ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e001645
Author(s):  
Ayman Helal ◽  
Lamis Shahin ◽  
Mahmoud Abdelsalam ◽  
Mokhtar Ibrahim

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare systems across the world. The rate of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) admissions during the pandemic has varied significantly.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the pandemic on ACS hospital admissions and to determine whether this is related to the number of COVID-19 cases in each country.MethodSearch engines including PubMed, Embase, Ovid and Google Scholar were searched from December 2019 to the 15 September 2020 to identify studies reporting ACS admission data during COVID-19 pandemic months in 2020 compared with 2019 admissions.ResultsA total of 40 studies were included in this multistudy analysis. They demonstrated a 28.1% reduction in the rate of admission with ACS during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared with the same period in 2019 (total of 28 613 patients in 2020 vs 39 225 in 2019). There was a significant correlation between the absolute risk reduction in the total number of ACS cases and the number of COVID-19 cases per 100 000 population (Pearson correlation=0.361 (p=0.028)). However, the correlation was not significant for each of the ACS subgroups: non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (p=0.508), STEMI (p=0883) and unstable angina (p=0.175).ConclusionThere was a significant reduction in the rate of ACS admission during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared with the same period in 2019 with a significant correlation with COVID-19 prevalence.


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