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).
Intern Emerg Med
; 2022 Nov 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2228260
ABSTRACT
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.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Emergency Medicine
/
Internal Medicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S11739-022-03140-4
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