Effect of Weather Conditions on the Occurrence and In-hospital Mortality of Stanford Type A Acute Aortic Dissection

Abstract

Objectives To investigate the seasonal, monthly, and daily distribution of the incidence of Stanford type A acute aortic dissection (TAAAD) and identify seasonality in the length of hospital stay and in-hospital mortality of TAAAD in southeastern China. Methods We enrolled patients diagnosed with TAAAD from June 1, 2017, to May 31, 2021. Participants were divided into seasonal, monthly, and daily groups according to the need for analysis. An analysis of variation was applied to compare the number of TAAAD in different seasons, months, and days. The χ2 test was used to compare in-hospital mortality among the four groups. Nonparametric methods were used for all comparisons of the length of hospital stay. Results Of the 485 patients, 154 were diagnosed in winter (31.8%), 115 in spring (23.7%), 73 in summer (15.1%), and 143 in autumn (29.5%). The daily, monthly, and seasonal distributions of TAAAD were significantly different (P = 0.04, P < 0.01, P < 0.01, respectively). This study did not identify any significant decrease in maximal, mean, or minimum temperatures between the 3 days before TAAAD and the day of TAAAD. No seasonal effect on in-hospital mortality was observed (P = 0.89). However, significant differences were observed in the seasonal distribution of the length of hospital stay for TAAAD (P < 0.01). Conclusions Our study confirmed that the incidence of TAAAD exhibits seasonal, monthly, and daily variations in southeastern China. Moreover, the daily incidence of TAAAD is higher on weekdays than on weekends.