{"title":"Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on the Treatment of Myocardial Infarction Patients.","authors":"Maik J Grundeken, Bimmer E P M Claessen","doi":"10.1007/s11936-023-00988-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an overburdened healthcare system. While an increased rate of ACS is expected due to the pro-thrombotic state of COVID patients, observed ACS incidence and admission rates were paradoxically decreased during the (first wave of the) pandemic. In this narrative review, we will discuss potential reasons for this decrease in ACS incidence. Furthermore, we will discuss ACS management during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will discuss outcomes in ACS.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>A reluctance to seek medical contact (in order not to further overburden the health system or due to fear of being infected with COVID-19 while in hospital) and unavailability of medical services seem to be important factors. This may have led to an increased symptom onset to first medical contact time and an increased rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. A trend towards less invasive management was observed (less invasive coronary angiography in NSTEMI patients and more \"fibrinolysis-first\" in STEMI patients), although a large variation was observed with some centers having a relative increase in early invasive management. Patients with ACS and concomitant COVID-19 infection have worse outcomes compared to ACS patients without COVID-19 infection. All of the above led to worse clinical outcomes in patients presenting with ACS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, staffing and hospital bed shortages led to experimentation with very early discharge (24 h after primary PCI) in low-risk STEMI patients which had a very good prognosis and resulted in significant shorter hospital duration.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>During the COVID-19 pandemic, ACS incidence and admission rates were decreased, symptom onset to first medical contact time prolonged, and out-of-hospital rates increased. A trend towards less invasive management was observed. Patients presenting with ACS during the COVID-19 pandemic had a worse outcome. On the other hand, experimental very early discharge in low-risk patients may relieve the healthcare system. Such initiatives, and strategies to lower the reluctance of patients with ACS symptoms to seek medical help, are vital to improve prognosis in ACS patients in future pandemics.</p>","PeriodicalId":35912,"journal":{"name":"Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10250853/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11936-023-00988-3","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose of review: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an overburdened healthcare system. While an increased rate of ACS is expected due to the pro-thrombotic state of COVID patients, observed ACS incidence and admission rates were paradoxically decreased during the (first wave of the) pandemic. In this narrative review, we will discuss potential reasons for this decrease in ACS incidence. Furthermore, we will discuss ACS management during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will discuss outcomes in ACS.
Recent findings: A reluctance to seek medical contact (in order not to further overburden the health system or due to fear of being infected with COVID-19 while in hospital) and unavailability of medical services seem to be important factors. This may have led to an increased symptom onset to first medical contact time and an increased rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. A trend towards less invasive management was observed (less invasive coronary angiography in NSTEMI patients and more "fibrinolysis-first" in STEMI patients), although a large variation was observed with some centers having a relative increase in early invasive management. Patients with ACS and concomitant COVID-19 infection have worse outcomes compared to ACS patients without COVID-19 infection. All of the above led to worse clinical outcomes in patients presenting with ACS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, staffing and hospital bed shortages led to experimentation with very early discharge (24 h after primary PCI) in low-risk STEMI patients which had a very good prognosis and resulted in significant shorter hospital duration.
Summary: During the COVID-19 pandemic, ACS incidence and admission rates were decreased, symptom onset to first medical contact time prolonged, and out-of-hospital rates increased. A trend towards less invasive management was observed. Patients presenting with ACS during the COVID-19 pandemic had a worse outcome. On the other hand, experimental very early discharge in low-risk patients may relieve the healthcare system. Such initiatives, and strategies to lower the reluctance of patients with ACS symptoms to seek medical help, are vital to improve prognosis in ACS patients in future pandemics.
期刊介绍：
This journal aims to review the most important, recently published treatment-related advances in cardiovascular medicine. By providing clear, insightful, balanced contributions by international experts, the journal intends to elucidate novel approaches to treatment in those affected by the spectrum of cardiovascular-related diseases and conditions. We accomplish this aim by appointing international authorities to serve as Section Editors in key subject areas, such as coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease and stroke, heart failure, pediatric and congenital heart disease, and valvular, myocardial, pericardial, and cardiopulmonary diseases. Section Editors, in turn, select topics for which leading experts contribute comprehensive review articles that emphasize new developments and recently published papers of major importance, highlighted by annotated reference lists. We also provide commentaries from well-known figures in the field, and an international Editorial Board reviews the annual table of contents, suggests articles of special interest to their country/region, and ensures that topics are current and include emerging research.
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