Clinical characteristics and predictors of in-hospital mortality of patients hospitalized with myocardial infarction before and during COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many acute coronary syndrome (ACS) care aspects. The aim was to compare the patient profile, ACS characteristics, and the outcomes in patients referred to the invasive cardiology department before (March 2019 - February 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 - February 2021). Material and methods: Clinical and demographic features, comorbidities, laboratory parameters at admission, and periprocedural data were recorded. The relationship of these parameters with in-hospital mortality was assessed. Results: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 664 patients were admitted due to ACS (mean age 67.16 +/- 11.94 years, females 32.1%), and during the COVID-19 pandemic 545 ACS patients were recorded [mean age 66.02 +/- 12.02 years (p = 0.463), females 31% (p = 0.706)]. A 17.8% decrease in the ACS rate was observed. During the pandemic, there were more STEMI patients (44.3% vs. 52.1%, p < 0.001) and fewer patients treated conservatively (24.9% vs. 8%, p < 0.001). Most lesions were located in the left anterior descending artery (53.4% vs. 54.7%), but post-percutaneous coronary intervention TIMI 3 was observed more frequently before the pandemic (83.9% vs. 75.1%, p < 0.001). Periprocedural complication rates did not differ between the groups. In-hospital outcomes did not differ between analyzed periods regarding all-cause death nor cardiac death rates, 5.3% vs. 4.6% (p = 0.598) and 4.5% vs. 3.7% (p = 0.473), respectively. Conclusions: Based on the analysis of 1209 patients, a decrease in ACS patients admitted during the pandemic was recorded, but in-hospital mortality remained similar.