Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Before and During COVID in New York

Little is known about regional differences in volume, treatment, and outcomes of STEMI patients undergoing PCI during the pandemic. The objectives of this study were to compare COVID-19 pandemic and prepandemic periods with respect to regional volumes, outcomes, and treatment of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) between January 1, 2019 and March 14, 2020 (pre-COVID period) and between March 15, 2020 and April 4, 2020 (COVID period) in 51 New York State hospitals certified to perform PCI. The hospitals were classified as being in either high-density or low-density COVID-19 counties on the basis of deaths/10,000 population. There was a decrease of 43% in procedures/week in high-density COVID-19 counties (p <0.0001) and only 4% in low-density counties (p = 0.64). There was no difference in the change in risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality rates in either type of county, but STEMI PCI patients in high-density counties had longer times from symptom onset to hospital arrival and lower cardiac arrest rates in the pandemic period. In conclusion, the decrease in STEMI PCIs during the pandemic was mainly limited to counties with a high density of COVID-19 deaths. The decrease appears to be primarily related to patients not presenting to hospitals in high-density COVID regions, rather than PCI being avoided in STEMI patients or a reduction in the incidence of STEMI. Also, high-density COVID-19 counties experienced delayed admissions and less severely ill STEMI PCI patients during the pandemic. This information can serve to focus efforts on convincing STEMI patients to seek life-saving hospital care during the pandemic.