Outcomes of STEMI Patients in COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has disrupted health systems and put a huge strain on hospitals and healthcare workers. Prioritizing COVID-19 patients in hospitals caused irreversible harm to cardiac patients. Although multiple studies have shown that ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients have worse admission circumstances than before the pandemic, the hospital outcomes of these patients have remained limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined STEMI patient outcomes during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Methods: We conducted systematic searches of MEDLINE (through PubMed), Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase through Jan 10, 2021. All studies with reporting in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and door-to-balloon time with over twenty participants were included. Articles without clear definitions or results were excluded. The study followed PRISMA guidelines. The outcomes of interest were door-to-balloon time, death, and hospital stay during COVID-19 pandemic compared prior.

Results: Our meta-analysis included 12 studies and 21170 people (115-6609). The pooled analysis showed significantly more pandemic mortality (OR=1.24; 95% CI: 1.07-1.43). Ten studies (13,091) recorded door-to-balloon times. Door-to-balloon time (in minutes) significantly increased during the pandemic (Standardized Mean Difference [SMD]= 0.46; 95% CI: 0.03-0.89). The length of hospital stay was reported by five studies (n=9448). Length of hospital stay (in days) was not significantly longer during the pandemic than before the outbreak (SMD= 0.04; 95% CI: -0.19-0.26).

Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with increased mortality and door-to-balloon delay that might be attributable to the strict infection control measures in outbreak. Studies with a longer follow-up time are needed to investigate the outcomes of STEMI patients.