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. 2020 Dec;7(6):4182-4188.
doi: 10.1002/ehf2.13043. Epub 2020 Oct 23.

Reduction in heart failure hospitalization rate during coronavirus disease 19 pandemic outbreak

Paolo Severino  1 , Andrea D'Amato  1 , Andrea Saglietto  2 , Fabrizio D'Ascenzo  2 , Claudia Marini  3 , Marco Schiavone  4 , Nicolò Ghionzoli  5 , Filippo Pirrotta  5 , Francesca Troiano  6 , Margherita Cannillo  6 , Marco Mennuni  7 , Andrea Rognoni  7 , Francesco Rametta  8 , Alessandro Galluzzo  8 , Gianluca Agnes  1 , Fabio Infusino  1 , Mariateresa Pucci  1   9 , Carlo Lavalle  1 , Luca Cacciotti  9 , Paul J Mather  10 , Walter Grosso Marra  6 , Fabrizio Ugo  8 , Giovanni Forleo  4 , Maurizio Viecca  4 , Nuccia Morici  3   11 , Giuseppe Patti  7   12 , Gaetano M De Ferrari  2 , Alberto Palazzuoli  5 , Massimo Mancone  1 , Francesco Fedele  1
Affiliations

Reduction in heart failure hospitalization rate during coronavirus disease 19 pandemic outbreak

Paolo Severino et al. ESC Heart Fail. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Aims: The recent coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak forced the adoption of restraint measures, which modified the hospital admission patterns for several diseases. The aim of the study is to investigate the rate of hospital admissions for heart failure (HF) during the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, compared with a corresponding period during the previous year and an earlier period during the same year.

Methods and results: We performed a retrospective analysis on HF admissions number at eight hospitals in Italy throughout the study period (21 February to 31 March 2020), compared with an inter-year period (21 February to 31 March 2019) and an intra-year period (1 January to 20 February 2020). The primary outcome was the overall rate of hospital admissions for HF. A total of 505 HF patients were included in this survey: 112 during the case period, 201 during intra-year period, and 192 during inter-year period. The mean admission rate during the case period was 2.80 admissions per day, significantly lower compared with intra-year period (3.94 admissions per day; incidence rate ratio, 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56-0.89; P = 0.0037), or with inter-year (4.92 admissions per day; incidence rate ratio, 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.72; P < 0.001). Patients admitted during study period were less frequently admitted in New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class II compared with inter-year period (P = 0.019). At covariance analysis NYHA class was significantly lower in patients admitted during inter-year control period, compared with patients admitted during case period (P = 0.014).

Conclusions: Admissions for HF were significantly reduced during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

Keywords: COVID-19; Heart failure; Hospitalization; Pandemic.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Daily heart failure hospitalizations of the study population. HF, heart failure. Red line: HF hospitalizations during the time from the first confirmed coronavirus disease 19 (COVID‐19) case (21 February 2020) to 31 March 2020 (study period). Blue line: HF hospitalizations during the time from 21 February 2019 to 31 March 2019 (inter‐year control period). Orange line: HF hospitalizations during the time from 1 January 2020 to the day before the first confirmed COVID‐19 case (20 February 2020; intra‐year control period). The vertical line represents 21 February 2020, the date of the first confirmed COVID‐19 case in Italy. The blue, orange, and red horizontal lines represent the mean daily admission of inter‐year control period, intra‐year control period, and study period, respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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