Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on visits to the hospital emergency service in two hospitals in Spain, from March 14, 2020 to June 21, 2020.

This study will describe trends in the use of emergency departments before and after the Spanish State of Alarm, especially in pathologies not directly related to this infection. A cross-sectional study was conducted of all visits to the emergency departments in two third-level hospitals in two Spanish communities during the Spanish State of Alarm, compared with the same period of the previous year. The variables collected included the day of the week, the time of the visit, the duration of the visit, the final destination of the patients (home, admission to a conventional hospitalization ward, admission to the intensive care unit, and death), and the diagnosis at discharge according to the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision. During the Spanish State of Alarm period, an overall decrease in care demand of 48% was observed, which reached 69.5% in pediatric emergency departments. We also saw a drop of between 20 and 30% in time-dependent pathologies (heart attack, stroke, sepsis, poisoning). The decrease in overall attendance in the emergency departments and absence of serious pathologies, such as time-dependent diseases, observed during the Spanish State of Alarm compared to the previous year highlights the need to strengthen the messages addressed to the population to encourage them to seek care without delay in case of alarming symptoms and reduce the high morbidity and mortality rate if the diagnosis is delayed.

Clinical assessment of heart-type fatty acid binding protein in early diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Early identification of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the emergency room is still a difficult task. The objective of this study is to estimate the reliability of heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) in identifying ACS in the early stage of chest pain onset. METHODS: In a prospective multicentre study in emergency room patients with suspected ACS lasting less than 3 h, heart heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) was compared with conventional biomarkers. Protein levels >7 ng/ml were considered positive results. RESULTS: A total of 419 patients were analyzed. Acute myocardial infarction was diagnosed in 148 patients (35%). H-FABP sensitivity was 60% (89 out of 148 patients), significantly higher than troponin T [19% (28 out of 148 patients); P<0,05]. Specificity of troponin T, however, [99% (270 out of 271 patients)] was better than H-FABP [88% (237 out of 271 patients)], though this was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: H-FABP can be a useful early diagnostic biochemical marker, particularly within the first 6 h of symptoms, in patients attending the emergency department.