Impact of Public Health Emergency Response to COVID-19 on Management and Outcome for STEMI Patients in Beijing—a Single-Centre Historic Control Study: Impact of COVID-19 on STEMI treatment and outcome

Song, Chenxi; Liu, Shuai; Yin, Dong; Wang, Yang; Zhao, Yanyan; Yang, Weixian; Qiao, Shubin; Dou, Kefei; Xu, Bo

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses great challenge on public health globally. OBJECTIVE: To clarify the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on in-hospital management and outcomes for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients in the non-epicenter. METHODS AND RESULTS: We enrolled consecutive STEMI patients who visited Fuwai Hospital from January to March, 2020 (N=73) and also established a historical control including all consecutive STEMI patients in the same period of 2019 (N=95). The primary outcome was defined as a composite endpoint of all-cause death, heart failure, cardiac shock and cardiac arrest during hospitalization. RESULTS: Emergency response for COVID-19 resulted in a significant 77.6% reduction in the number of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and a trend towards higher rate of primary composite endpoint (15.1% vs. 11.6%, p=0.51). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 pandemic results in a significant reduction in emergent reperfusion therapy, and a trend towards higher in-hospital adverse events risk.