The Effect of Coronavirus Outbreak on the Utilization of Coronary Revascularization Procedures: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic represented a great challenge for health systems, which had to quickly readapt and dedicate most of their resources to managing this crisis. The postponement of programmed interventions such as coronary revascularization procedures represented a critical issue in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the hardest-hit countries such as Spain. However, the precise consequences of the delay of coronary revascularizations are not clearly determined. In the present work, interrupted time series (ITS) analysis was used to evaluate the utilization rates and assessment of the risk profiles of patients receiving two main coronary revascularization procedures (percutaneous coronary intervention—PCI and coronary artery bypass graft—CABG) and compared them in the periods before and after March 2020 using the Spanish National Hospital Discharge Database (SNHDD). Our results show that the abrupt reorganization of hospital care that represented the first wave of COVID-19 in March 2020 in Spain led to a reduction in cases, which was accompanied by an increase in the risk profile of CABG patients, but not PCI. On the other hand, the risk profile of both coronary revascularization procedures began before the pandemic, showing a significant temporal trend toward an increase in the risk profile. Future works should be directed to study and validate our results, evaluating other databases, regions, or countries.

Changing Face of Inflammatory Activation in Complex Coronary Artery Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Fewer hospitalizations, followed by a lower number of performed procedures, were reported during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic [1]. The number of surgical revascularization procedures has decreased due to the reorganization of the healthcare system, although the overall number of percutaneous procedures has not been reduced [2]. The time from the onset of pain to the first medical contact significantly extended during the lockdown, as did the number of hospitalizations due to acute coronary syndromes [3].…”