ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a leading cause of death worldwide. A shock index (SI), modified SI (MSI), delta-SI, and shock index-C (SIC) are known predictors of STEMI. This retrospective cohort study was designed to compare the predictive value of the SI, MSI, delta-SI, and SIC with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) risk scales. METHOD: Patients > 20 years old with STEMI who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were included. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis with the Youden index was performed to calculate the optimal cutoff values for these predictors. RESULTS: Overall, 1552 adult STEMI cases were analyzed. The thresholds for the emergency department (ED) SI, MSI, SIC, and TIMI risk scales for in-hospital mortality were 0.75, 0.97, 21.00, and 5.5, respectively. Accordingly, ED SIC had better predictive power than the ED SI and ED MSI. The predictive power was relatively higher than TIMI risk scales, but the difference did not achieve statistical significance. After adjusting for confounding factors, the ED SI > 0.75, MSI > 0.97, SIC > 21.0, and TIMI risk scales > 5.5 were statistically and significantly associated with in-hospital mortality of STEMI. Compared with the ED SI and MSI, SIC (>21.0) had better sensitivity (67.2%, 95% CI, 58.6-75.9%), specificity (83.5%, 95% CI, 81.6-85.4%), PPV (24.8%, 95% CI, 20.2-29.6%), and NPV (96.9%, 95% CI, 96.0-97.9%) for in-hospital mortality of STEMI. CONCLUSIONS: SIC had better discrimination ability than the SI, MSI, and delta-SI. Compared with the TIMI risk scales, the ACU value of SIC was still higher. Therefore, SIC might be a convenient and rapid tool for predicting the outcome of STEMI.
ABSTRACT
The level and composition of air pollution have changed during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the association between air pollution and pediatric respiratory disease emergency department (ED) visits during the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear. The study was retrospectively conducted between 2017 and 2020 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, from 1 January 2020 to 1 May 2020, defined as the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and 1 January 2017 to 31 May 2019, defined as the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period. We enrolled patients under 17 years old who visited the ED in a medical center and were diagnosed with respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis, and acute pharyngitis. Measurements of particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameters of <10 µm (PM10) and < 2.5 µm (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and Ozone (O3) were collected. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in the interquartile range of PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 levels was associated with increases of 72.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 50.5-97.7%), 98.0% (95% CI, 70.7-129.6%), and 54.7% (95% CI, 38.7-72.6%), respectively, in the risk of pediatric respiratory disease ED visits on lag 1, which were greater than those in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period. After adjusting for temperature and humidity, the risk of pediatric respiratory diseases after exposure to PM2.5 (inter p = 0.001) and PM10 (inter p < 0.001) was higher during the COVID-19 pandemic. PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 may play important roles in pediatric respiratory events in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Compared with the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period, the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 were lower; however, the levels were related to a greater increase in ED during the COVID-19 pandemic.