Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Implantation of Intra-Cardiac Devices in Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients in the Western of Romania

• Published in: Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) Vol. 57; no. 5; p. 441
• Main Authors: Pescariu, Silvius Alexandru, Tudoran, Cristina, Pop, Gheorghe Nicusor, Pescariu, Sorin, Timar, Romulus Zorin, Tudoran, Mariana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 03-05-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: atrioventricular block; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 pandemic; Diabetes; Heart failure; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Laboratories; pacemaker implantation; Pacemakers; Pandemics; Pathology; resynchronization therapy; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; sick sinus syndrome; type 2 diabetes mellitus; Romania
• ISSN: 1648-9144; 1010-660X; 1648-9144
• DOI: 10.3390/medicina57050441

Background and Objectives: COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted public health services worldwide, determining a significant decrease of elective cardiovascular (CV) procedures, especially in patients with associated chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM). Materials and Methods: This study was first started in 2019 in the western of Romania, to analyze the differences regarding the implantations of intra-cardiac devices such as permanent pacemakers (PPM), cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) in 351 patients with and without DM and the situation was reanalyzed at the end of 2020. Results: of the first 351 patients with and without DM. 28.20% of these patients had type 2 DM (p = 0.022), exceeding more than twice the prevalence of DM in the general population (11%). Patients with DM were younger (p = 0.022) and required twice as often CRT (p = 0.002) as non-diabetic patients. The state of these procedures was reanalyzed at the end of 2020, a dramatic decrease of all new device implantations being observed, both in non-diabetic and in patients with type 2 DM (79.37%, respectively 81.82%). Conclusions: COVID-19 pandemic determined a drastic decrease, with around 75% reduction of all procedures of new intra-cardiac devices implantation, both in non-diabetics, this activity being reserved mostly for emergencies.