Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, West German Heart and Vascular Center Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
3rd Department of Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Clin Res Cardiol. 2020 Dec;109(12):1469-1475. doi: 10.1007/s00392-020-01676-z. Epub 2020 May 31.
We sought to determine structure and changes in organisation and bed capacities of certified German chest pain units (CPU) in response to the emergency plan set-up as a response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
The study was conducted in the form of a standardised telephone interview survey in certified German CPUs. Analyses comprised the overall setting of the CPU, bed capacities, possibilities for ventilation, possible changes in organisation and resources, chest pain patient admittance, overall availability of CPUs and bail-out strategies. The response rate was 91%. Nationwide, CPU bed capacities decreased by 3% in the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic response, exhibiting differences within and between the federal states. Pre-pandemic and pandemic bed capacities stayed below 1 CPU bed per 50,000 inhabitants. 97% of CPUs were affected by internal reorganisation pandemic plans at variable extent. While we observed a decrease of CPU beds within an emergency room (ER) set-up and on intermediate care units (ICU), beds in units being separated from ER and ICU were even increased in numbers.
Certified German CPUs are able to maintain adequate coverage for chest pain patients in COVID-19 pandemic despite structural changes. However, at this time, it appears important to add operating procedures during pandemic outbreaks to the certification criteria of forthcoming guidelines either at the individual CPU level or more centrally steered by the German Cardiac Society or the European Society of Cardiology.
我们旨在确定德国认证胸痛单位（CPU）的结构和组织及床位容量的变化，以应对 SARS-CoV-2 大流行期间制定的应急计划。
本研究采用标准化电话访谈调查形式在德国认证的 CPU 中进行。分析包括 CPU 的总体设置、床位容量、通气可能性、组织和资源的可能变化、胸痛患者入院、CPU 的总体可用性和应急策略。回复率为 91%。在全国范围内，COVID-19 大流行应对早期 CPU 床位容量减少了 3%，在联邦州内和州际之间存在差异。大流行前和大流行期间的床位容量均低于每 50,000 居民 1 张 CPU 床位。97%的 CPU 受到内部大流行计划组织变革的影响，程度不同。虽然我们观察到急诊室（ER）设置和中级护理单位（ICU）中 CPU 床位减少，但与 ER 和 ICU 分开的单位中的床位数量甚至增加。
尽管结构发生了变化，但德国认证的 CPU 仍能够为 COVID-19 大流行期间的胸痛患者提供足够的服务。然而，此时似乎重要的是，在即将发布的指南的认证标准中添加大流行期间的操作程序，无论是在单个 CPU 级别还是由德国心脏病学会或欧洲心脏病学会更集中地指导。
