31 days of COVID-19—cardiac events during restriction of public life—a comparative study

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 outbreak led to the most recent pandemic of the twenty-first century. To contain spread of the virus, many nations introduced a public lockdown. How the pandemic itself and measures of social restriction affect hospital admissions due to acute cardiac events has rarely been evaluated yet.

German public authorities announced measures of social restriction between March 21st and April 20th, 2020. During this period, all patients suffering from an acute cardiac event admitted to our hospital (N = 94) were assessed and incidence rate ratios (IRR) of admissions for acute cardiac events estimated, and compared with those during the same period in the previous three years (2017–2019, N = 361). Admissions due to cardiac events were reduced by 22% as compared to the previous years (n = 94 vs. an average of n = 120 per year for 2017–2019). Whereas IRR for STEMI 1.20 (95% CI 0.67–2.14) and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest IRR 0.82 (95% CI 0.33–2.02) remained similar, overall admissions with an IRR of 0.78 (95% CI 0.62–0.98) and IRR for NSTEMI with 0.46 (95% CI 0.27–0.78) were significantly lower. In STEMI patients, plasma concentrations of high-sensitivity troponin T at admission were significantly higher (644 ng/l, IQR 372–2388) compared to 2017–2019 (195 ng/l, IQR 84–1134; p = 0.02).

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and concomitant social restrictions are associated with reduced cardiac events admissions to our tertiary care center. From a public health perspective, strategies have to be developed to assure patients are seeking and getting medical care and treatment in time during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.