Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular mortality and catherization activity during the lockdown in central Germany: an observational study

Aims During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital admissions for cardiac care have declined. However, effects on mortality are unclear. Thus, we sought to evaluate the impact of the lockdown period in central Germany on overall and cardiovascular deaths. Simultaneously we looked at catheterization activit...

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Published in:	Clinical research in cardiology Vol. 110; no. 2; pp. 292 - 301
Main Authors:	Nef, Holger M., Elsässer, Albrecht, Möllmann, Helge, Abdel-Hadi, Mohammed, Bauer, Timm, Brück, Martin, Eggebrecht, Holger, Ehrlich, Joachim R., Ferrari, Markus W., Fichtlscherer, Stephan, Hink, Ulrich, Hölschermann, Hans, Kacapor, Rifat, Koeth, Oliver, Korboukov, Serguei, Lamparter, Steffen, Laspoulas, Alexander J., Lehmann, Ralf, Liebetrau, Christoph, Plücker, Tobias, Pons-Kühnemann, Jörn, Schächinger, Volker, Schieffer, Bernhard, Schott, Peter, Schulze, Matthias, Teupe, Claudius, Vasa-Nicotera, Mariuca, Weber, Michael, Weinbrenner, Christoph, Werner, Gerald, Hamm, Christian W., Dörr, Oliver
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-02-2021 Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Acute coronary syndromes Aged Cardiac Catheterization - adverse effects Cardiac Catheterization - mortality Cardiac Catheterization - trends Cardiology Cardiovascular diseases Cardiovascular Diseases - diagnosis Cardiovascular Diseases - mortality Cardiovascular Diseases - therapy Catheterization Cause of Death - trends Confidence intervals Coronaviruses COVID-19 Fatalities Female Germany Heart Hospital Mortality - trends Hospitalization - trends Humans Male Medicine Medicine & Public Health Middle Aged Mortality Observational studies Original Paper Pandemics Percutaneous Coronary Intervention - adverse effects Percutaneous Coronary Intervention - mortality Percutaneous Coronary Intervention - trends Public health Risk Factors Time Factors Germany COVID-19 Chronic coronary syndrome SARS-CoV2 pandemic Acute coronary syndrome Cardiovascular mortality
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Summary:	Aims During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital admissions for cardiac care have declined. However, effects on mortality are unclear. Thus, we sought to evaluate the impact of the lockdown period in central Germany on overall and cardiovascular deaths. Simultaneously we looked at catheterization activities in the same region. Methods and results Data from 22 of 24 public health-authorities in central Germany were aggregated during the pandemic related lockdown period and compared to the same time period in 2019. Information on the total number of deaths and causes of death, including cardiovascular mortality, were collected. Additionally, we compared rates of hospitalization ( n = 5178) for chronic coronary syndrome (CCS), acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in 26 hospitals in this area. Data on 5,984 deaths occurring between March 23, 2020 and April 26, 2020 were evaluated. In comparison to the reference non-pandemic period in 2019 (deaths: n = 5832), there was a non-significant increase in all-cause mortality of 2.6% [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.99–1.06; p = 0.16]. Cardiovascular and cardiac mortality increased significantly by 7.6% (IRR 1.08, 95%-CI 1.01–1.14; p = 0.02) and by 11.8% (IRR 1.12, 95%-CI 1.05–1.19; p < 0.001), respectively. During the same period, our data revealed a drop in cardiac catherization procedures. Conclusion During the COVID-19-related lockdown a significant increase in cardiovascular mortality was observed in central Germany, whereas catherization activities were reduced. The mechanisms underlying both of these observations should be investigated further in order to better understand the effects of a pandemic-related lockdown and social-distancing restrictions on cardiovascular care and mortality. Graphic abstract
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Undefined-2
ISSN:	1861-0684 1861-0692
DOI:	10.1007/s00392-020-01780-0