Global effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the rate of acute coronary syndrome admissions: a comprehensive review of published literature

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare systems across the world. The rate of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) admissions during the pandemic has varied significantly. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the pandemic on ACS hospital admissions and to determine whether this is related to the number of COVID-19 cases in each country. METHOD: Search engines including PubMed, Embase, Ovid and Google Scholar were searched from December 2019 to the 15 September 2020 to identify studies reporting ACS admission data during COVID-19 pandemic months in 2020 compared with 2019 admissions. RESULTS: A total of 40 studies were included in this multistudy analysis. They demonstrated a 28.1% reduction in the rate of admission with ACS during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared with the same period in 2019 (total of 28 613 patients in 2020 vs 39 225 in 2019). There was a significant correlation between the absolute risk reduction in the total number of ACS cases and the number of COVID-19 cases per 100 000 population (Pearson correlation=0.361 (p=0.028)). However, the correlation was not significant for each of the ACS subgroups: non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (p=0.508), STEMI (p=0883) and unstable angina (p=0.175). CONCLUSION: There was a significant reduction in the rate of ACS admission during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared with the same period in 2019 with a significant correlation with COVID-19 prevalence.