“To determine whether a decrease in PPCI is occurring in the United States in the COVID-19 era, we analyzed and quantified STEMI activations for 9 high volume (>100 PPCIs/year) cardiac catheterization laboratories in the United States from January 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020…
...Our preliminary analysis during the early phase of the COVID pandemic shows an estimated 38% reduction in U.S. cardiac catheterization laboratory STEMI activations, similar to the 40% reduction noticed in Spain…
..Potential etiologies for the decrease in STEMI PPCI activations include avoidance of medical care due to social distancing or concerns of contracting COVID-19 in the hospital, STEMI misdiagnosis, and increased use of pharmacological reperfusion due to COVID-19. ”
Garcia, S, Albaghdadi, M, Meraj, P. et al. Reduction in ST-Segment Elevation Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Activations in the United States During COVID-19 Pandemic. JACC. 2020 Jun, 75 (22) 2871–2872.