Clinical and procedural characteristics of COVID-19 patients treated with percutaneous coronary interventions

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has affected healthcare systems worldwide. Resources are being shifted and potentially jeopardize safety of non-COVID-19 patients with comorbidities. Our aim was to investigate the impact of national lockdown and SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on percutaneous treatment of coronary artery disease in Poland. Methods: Data on patients who underwent percutaneous coronary procedures (angiography and/or percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI]) were extracted for March 13–May 13, 2020 from a national PCI database (ORPKI Registry) during the first month of national lockdown and compared with analogous time period in 2019. Results: Of 163 cardiac catheterization centers in Poland, 15 (9.2%) were indefinitely or temporarily closed down due to SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. There were nine physicians (9 of 544; 1.7%) who were infected with SARS-CoV-2. There were 13,750 interventional cardiology procedures performed in Poland in the analyzed time period. In 66% of cases an acute coronary syndrome was diagnosed, and in the remaining 34% it was an elective procedure for the chronic coronary syndrome in comparison to 50% in 2019 (p