Greater decline of acute stroke admissions compared with acute coronary syndromes during COVID-19 outbreak in Greece: Cerebro/cardiovascular implications amidst a second wave surge.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

A remarkable decline in admissions for acute stroke and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has been reported in countries severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, limited data are available from countries with less COVID-19 burden focusing on concurrent stroke and ACS hospitalisation rates from the same population.

METHODS:

The study was conducted in three geographically and demographically representative COVID-19 referral university hospitals in Greece. We recorded the rate of stroke and ACS hospital admissions during a 6-week period of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 and compared them with the rates of the corresponding period in 2019.

RESULTS:

We found a greater relative reduction of stroke admissions (51% [35 vs. 71]; incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.49, p = 0.001) compared with ACS admissions (27% [123 vs. 168]; IRR: 0.73, p = 0.009) during the COVID-19 outbreak (p = 0.097). Fewer older (>65 years) patients (stroke: 34.3% vs. 45.1%, odds ratio [OR]: 0.64, p = 0.291; ACS: 39.8% vs. 54.2%, OR: 0.56, p = 0.016) were admitted during the COVID-19 compared with the control period.

CONCLUSIONS:

Hospitalisation rates both for stroke and ACS were reduced during the COVID-19 outbreak in a country with strict social distancing measures, low COVID-19 incidence and low population mortality. Lack of triggers for stroke and ACS during social distancing/quarantining may explain these observations. However, medical care avoidance attitudes among cerebro/cardiovascular patients should be dissipated amidst the rising second COVID-19 wave.

• Authors: Christos Katsouras, Theodoros Karapanayiotides, Michail Papafaklis, Sotirios Giannopoulos, Antonios Ziakas, George Sianos, Georgia Papagiannopoulou, Ioanna Koutroulou, Eythimia Varytimiadi, Maria Kosmidou, Katerina Naka, Lampros K Michalis, Georgios Tsivgoulis
• Journal: European journal of neurology (Eur J Neurol) Vol. 28 Issue 10 Pg. 3452-3455 (Oct 2021) ISSN: 1468-1331 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 33290619 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2020 European Academy of Neurology.

Topics

• Acute Coronary Syndrome (epidemiology)
• COVID-19
• Greece (epidemiology)
• Hospitalization
• Humans
• Pandemics
• SARS-CoV-2
• Stroke (epidemiology)