Department of Emergency Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-556 Wroclaw, Poland.
Department of Emergency Medicine and Disaster Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, 92-212 Lodz, Poland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jun 4;18(11):6048. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18116048.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of admissions to the emergency department (ED) due to a primary diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF) has decreased when compared to pre-pandemic times. The principal aim of the study was to assess the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 infections and sinus rhythm restoration among patients who arrived at the ED with AF. Secondary aims included determining whether patients arriving at the ED principally due to AF delayed their presentations and whether the frequency of successful cardioversion for AF was decreased during the pandemic period.
A retrospective analysis of medical records of patients admitted to two hospital EDs due to AF during July-December 2019 (pre-pandemic period) versus July-December 2020 (pandemic period) was performed.
During the study periods, 601 ED visits by 497 patients were made due to the primary diagnosis of AF. The patients were aged 71.2+/-13.5 years and 51.3% were male. The duration of an AF episode before the ED admission was 10 h (4.5-30 h) during the pandemic period vs. 5 h (3-24 h) during the non-pandemic period ( = 0.001). A shorter duration of the AF episode before ED admission was associated with the successful restoration of the sinus rhythm. During the pandemic period, among patients with short-lasting AF who were not treated with Phenazolinum, the restoration of the sinus rhythm was more frequent in the Copernicus Memorial Hospital than in the University Hospital ( = 0.026). A positive SARS-CoV-2 test was found in 5 (1%) patients, while 2 other patients (0.5%) had a prior diagnosis of COVID-19 disease noted in their medical history.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，因心房颤动（AF）初诊而到急诊科（ED）就诊的人数与大流行前相比有所减少。本研究的主要目的是评估因 AF 到达 ED 的患者中 SARS-CoV-2 感染和窦性心律恢复的频率。次要目的包括确定因 AF 到达 ED 的患者是否延迟就诊，以及大流行期间 AF 成功电复律的频率是否降低。
对 2019 年 7 月至 12 月（大流行前）和 2020 年 7 月至 12 月（大流行期间）因 AF 初诊而在两家医院 ED 就诊的患者的病历进行回顾性分析。
在研究期间，因 AF 初诊而有 601 例 ED 就诊，497 例患者就诊。患者年龄为 71.2±13.5 岁，51.3%为男性。大流行期间 ED 就诊前 AF 发作持续时间为 10 小时（4.5-30 小时），而非大流行期间为 5 小时（3-24 小时）（ = 0.001）。ED 就诊前 AF 发作持续时间较短与窦性心律恢复相关。在大流行期间，未接受 Phenazolinum 治疗的短时间 AF 患者中，Copernicus Memorial 医院窦性心律恢复的频率高于大学医院（ = 0.026）。5 例（1%）患者的 SARS-CoV-2 检测呈阳性，而另外 2 例（0.5%）患者的病史中记录了 COVID-19 疾病的既往诊断。
