STEMI during the COVID-19 Pandemic - An Evaluation of Incidence

Edan Zitelny; Noah Newman; David Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.carpath.2020.107232

STEMI during the COVID-19 Pandemic - An Evaluation of Incidence

Cardiovasc Pathol. 2020 Sep-Oct:48:107232. doi: 10.1016/j.carpath.2020.107232. Epub 2020 May 1.

Authors

Edan Zitelny¹, Noah Newman², David Zhao³

Affiliations

¹ Wake Forest School of Medicine, 1 Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27103, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Wake Forest School of Medicine, 1 Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27103, United States.
³ Section on Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest Baptist Health System, 1 Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27103, United States.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the practice medicine on a global scale during the year 2020. With fewer patients presenting to hospitals with the diagnosis of STEMI, healthcare workers are wondering what is causing this decline. This piece presents data from two medical centers and addresses several possible causes to explain this phenomenon. It was found that there was a statistically significant decrease from January to March 2020 in number of presenting STEMI diagnoses.

Keywords: Acute coronary syndrome; COVID-19; Incidence; Myocardial infarction; STEMI.

Publication types

Editorial
Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

Academic Medical Centers
Acute Coronary Syndrome / diagnosis
Acute Coronary Syndrome / epidemiology*
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis
Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
Humans
Incidence
North Carolina / epidemiology
Pandemics
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis
Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
Risk Assessment
Risk Factors
ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction / diagnosis
ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction / epidemiology*
Time Factors