Emergency Department Visits and Deaths from Cardiovascular Diseases at a Referral Center for Cardiology During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed measures of social distancing and, during this time, there has been an elevation in cardiovascular mortality rates and a decrease in the number of emergency visits. Objectives: To assess and compare in-hospital mortality for cardiovascular diseases and emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic and the same period in 2019. Methods: Retrospective, single-center study that evaluated emergency visits and in-hospital deaths between March 16, 2020 and June 16, 2020, when the steepest fall in the number of emergency admissions for COVID-19 was registered. These data were compared with the emergency visits and in-hospital deaths between March 16 and June 16, 2019. We analyzed the total number of deaths, and cardiovascular deaths. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: There was a 35% decrease in the number of emergency visits and an increase in the ratio of the number of deaths to the number of emergency visits in 2020. The increase in the ratio of the number of all-cause deaths to the number of emergency visits was 45.6% and the increase in the ratio of the number of cardiovascular deaths to the number of emergency visits was 62.1%. None of the patients who died in the study period in 2020 tested positive for COVID-19. Conclusion: In-hospital mortality for cardiovascular diseases increased proportionally to the number of emergency visits during the COVID-19-imposed social distancing compared with the same period in 2019.