Myocardial Infarction in Patients with and without COVID-19: Comparisons of Characteristics, Clinical Courses, and Outcomes

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has rapidly become a global health emergency. This infection can cause damage to various organs. Injury to myocardial cells is one of the salient manifestations of COVID-19. The clinical course and outcome of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are influenced by various factors, including comorbidities and concomitant diseases. One of these acute concomitant diseases is COVID-19, which can affect the clinical course and outcome of acute myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: The present cross-sectional study compared the clinical course and outcome of MI and some of its practical factors between patients with and without COVID-19. The study population consisted of 180 patients (129 males and 51 females) diagnosed with acute MI. Eighty patients had COVID-19 infection concurrently. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 65.62 years. The frequencies of non–ST-elevation MI (vs ST-elevation MI), lower ejection fractions (<30), and arrhythmias were significantly higher in the COVID-19 group than in the non–COVID-19 group (P=0.006, 0.003, and P<0.001, respectively). The single-vessel disease was the most frequent angiographic result in the COVID-19 group, while the double-vessel disease was the most frequent angiographic result in the non–COVID-19 group (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: It appears that patients with ACS who are co-infected with COVID-19 infection need essential care.