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Pre-hospital electrocardiographic (ECG) diagnosis and direct referral for primary PCI enables STEMI patients living far from a PCI centre to achieve a system delay comparable with patients living in close vicinity of a PCI centre.

Purpose We evaluated whether the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic was associated with changes in the pattern of acute cardiovascular admissions across European centres. Methods We set-up a multi-centre, multi-national, pan-European observational registry in 15 centres from 12 countries. All consecutive acute admissions to emergency departments and cardiology departments throughout a 1-month period during the COVID-19 outbreak were compared with an equivalent 1-month period in 2019. The acute admissions to cardiology departments were classified into 5 major categories: acute coronary syndrome, acute heart failure, arrhythmia, pulmonary embolism and other. Results Data from 54331 patients were collected and analysed. Nine centres provided data on acute admissions to emergency departments comprising 50384 patients: 20226 in 2020 vs 30158 in 2019 – incidence rate ratio (IRR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.66(0.58-0.76). The risk of death at the emergency departments was higher in 2020 vs 2019: odds ratio (OR) with 95%CI: 4.1(3.0-5.8), P<0.0001. All 15 centers provided data on acute cardiology departments admissions: 3007 patients in 2020 vs 4452 in 2019, respectively, IRR(95%CI): 0.68(0.64-0.71). In 2020, there were less admissions with IRR(95%CI): acute coronary syndrome: 0.68(0.63-0.73), acute heart failure: 0.65(0.58-0.74), arrhythmia: 0.66(0.60-0.72), other: 0.68(0.62-0.76); we found a relatively higher percentage of pulmonary embolism admissions in 2020: OR(95%CI): 1.5(1.1-2.1), P=0.02. Among patients with acute coronary syndrome there were fewer admissions with unstable angina: 0.79(0.66-0.94), non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction: 0.56(0.50-0.64) and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: 0.78(0.68-0.89). Conclusion In the European centres during the COVID-19 outbreak, there were fewer acute cardiovascular admissions. Also, fewer patients were admitted to the emergency departments with 4-times higher death risk at the emergency departments.

Healthy pregnant women (n 23) were supplemented with fish-oil capsules (2·7 g n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids/d) from the 30th week of gestation until delivery. Subjects in a control group were either supplemented with olive-oil capsules (4 g/d, n 6) or received no supplementation (n 10). Fatty acid compositions of the phospholipids isolated from umbilical plasma and umbilical arterial and venous vessel walls were determined. Fatty acid compositions of maternal venous plasma phospholipids were determined as well. Maternal plasma phospholipids of the fish-oil-supplemented group contained more n-3 fatty acids and less n-6 fatty acids. Moreover, the amounts of the essential fatty acid deficiency markers Mead acid (20:3n-9) and Osbond acid (22:5n-6) were significantly lower. The extra amount of n-3 fatty acids consumed by the mothers resulted in higher contents of n-3 fatty acids, and of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) in particular, in the phospholipids of umbilical plasma and vessel walls. It is, indeed, possible to interfere with the docosahexaenoic acid status at birth: children born to mothers supplemented with fish oil in the last trimester of pregnancy start with a better docosahexaenoic acid status at birth, which may be beneficial to neonatal neurodevelopment.

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