Five waves of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: results of a national survey evaluating the impact on activities related to arrhythmias, pacing, and electrophysiology promoted by AIAC (Italian Association of Arrhythmology and Cardiac Pacing)

BACKGROUND: The subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy had a major impact on cardiac care. METHODS: A survey to evaluate the dynamic changes in arrhythmia care during the first five waves of COVID-19 in Italy (first: March–May 2020; second: October 2020–January 2021; third: February–May...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Boriani, Giuseppe, Guerra, Federico, De Ponti, Roberto, D’Onofrio, Antonio, Accogli, Michele, Bertini, Matteo, Bisignani, Giovanni, Forleo, Giovanni Battista, Landolina, Maurizio, Lavalle, Carlo, Notarstefano, Pasquale, Ricci, Renato Pietro, Zanotto, Gabriele, Palmisano, Pietro
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer International Publishing 2022
Materias:
Im - Original
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9646282/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36352300
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11739-022-03140-4
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: The subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy had a major impact on cardiac care. METHODS: A survey to evaluate the dynamic changes in arrhythmia care during the first five waves of COVID-19 in Italy (first: March–May 2020; second: October 2020–January 2021; third: February–May 2021; fourth: June–October 2021; fifth: November 2021–February 2022) was launched. RESULTS: A total of 127 physicians from arrhythmia centers (34% of Italian centers) took part in the survey. As compared to 2019, a reduction in 40% of elective pacemaker (PM), defibrillators (ICD), and cardiac resynchronization devices (CRT) implantations, with a 70% reduction for ablations, was reported during the first wave, with a progressive and gradual return to pre-pandemic volumes, generally during the third–fourth waves, slower for ablations. For emergency procedures (PM, ICD, CRT, and ablations), recovery from the initial 10% decline occurred in most cases during the second wave, with some variability. However, acute care for atrial fibrillation, electrical cardioversions, and evaluations for syncope showed a prolonged reduction of activity. The number of patients with devices which started remote monitoring increased by 40% during the first wave, but then the adoption of remote monitoring declined. CONCLUSIONS: The dramatic and profound derangement in arrhythmia management that characterized the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was followed by a progressive return to the volume of activities of the pre-pandemic periods, even if with different temporal dynamics and some heterogeneity. Remote monitoring was largely implemented during the first wave, but full implementation is needed. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11739-022-03140-4.

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