Department of Cardiology, Heart Center, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Institute of Clinical Chemistry & Clinical Pharmacology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
PLoS One. 2020 Nov 20;15(11):e0242653. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242653. eCollection 2020.
A decline in hospitalization for cardiovascular events and catheter laboratory activation was reported for the United States and Italy during the initial stage of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. We report on the deployment of emergency services for cardiovascular events in a defined region in western Germany during the government-imposed lock-down period.
We examined 5799 consecutive patients who were treated by emergency services for cardiovascular events during the Covid-19 pandemic (January 1 to April 30, 2020), and compared those to the corresponding time frame in 2019. Examining the emergency physicians' records provided by nine locations in the area, we found a 20% overall decline in cardiovascular admissions.
The greatest reduction could be seen immediately following the government-imposed social restrictions. This reduction was mainly driven by a reduction in discretionary admissions for dizziness/syncope (-53%), heart failure (-38%), exacerbated COPD (-28%) and unstable angina (-23%), while unavoidable admissions for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and stroke were unchanged. There was a greater decline in emergency admissions for patients ≥60 years. There was also a greater reduction in emergency admissions for those living in urban areas compared to suburban areas.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, a significant decline in hospitalization for cardiovascular events was observed during the government-enforced shutdown in a predefined area in western Germany. This reduction in admissions was mainly driven by "discretionary" cardiovascular events (unstable angina, heart failure, exacerbated COPD and dizziness/syncope), but events in which admission was unavoidable (CPR, STEMI and stroke) did not change.
2020 年新冠疫情初期，美国和意大利报告心血管事件住院和导管实验室激活减少。我们报告了在德国西部一个特定地区，政府强制封锁期间，紧急服务部门对心血管事件的部署情况。
我们研究了在新冠疫情期间（2020 年 1 月 1 日至 4 月 30 日），通过紧急服务治疗的 5799 例连续心血管事件患者，并将这些患者与 2019 年同期进行了比较。通过检查该地区 9 个地点的急诊医生记录，我们发现心血管入院人数总体下降了 20%。
在政府实施社会限制后，立即出现了最大的降幅。这种减少主要是由于头晕/晕厥（-53%）、心力衰竭（-38%）、恶化的 COPD（-28%）和不稳定型心绞痛（-23%）的非必要入院减少所致，而 ST 段抬高型心肌梗死（STEMI）、心肺复苏（CPR）和中风的不可避免入院则保持不变。≥60 岁患者的急诊入院人数降幅更大。与郊区相比，城市地区的急诊入院人数降幅更大。
在新冠疫情期间，在德国西部一个预先确定的区域内，政府强制关闭期间，心血管事件的住院治疗显著减少。这种入院人数的减少主要是由“随意性”心血管事件（不稳定型心绞痛、心力衰竭、恶化的 COPD 和头晕/晕厥）引起的，但不可避免的入院事件（CPR、STEMI 和中风）并没有改变。
