Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug;16(5):1191-1196.
doi: 10.1007/s11739-020-02564-0. Epub 2020 Dec 8.

Impact of 2020 SARS-CoV-2 outbreak on telemedicine management of cardiovascular disease in Italy

Giuseppe Molinari  1 , Natale Daniele Brunetti  2 , Savina Nodari  3 , Martina Molinari  1 , Giampietro Spagna  4 , Mariangela Ioakim  5 , Giovanni Migliore  6 , Vitangelo Dattoli  5 , Ottavio Di Cillo  7
Affiliations

Impact of 2020 SARS-CoV-2 outbreak on telemedicine management of cardiovascular disease in Italy

Giuseppe Molinari et al. Intern Emerg Med. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic affected large part of Italy since February 2020; we, therefore, aimed to assess the impact of 2020 SARS-CoV-2 outbreak on telemedicine management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Italy. We analyzed data from three telemedicine dispatch centers, one located in Genoa, serving private clients (pharmacies, general practitioners), one in Brescia, serving pharmacies, and one in Bari, serving regional public STEMI network and emergency medical service in Apulia (4 million inhabitants). Demographic data and principal electrocardiogram diagnosis were collected and analyzed. Records from the time interval March 1, 2020 and April 1, 2020 were compared with the corresponding period in 2019. The comparative analysis of data shows a 54% reduction of telemedicine electrocardiogram transmission in Genoa telemedicine center (from 364 to 166), 68% in Brescia (from 5.745 to 1.905), 24% in Bari (from 15.825 to 11.716); relative reduction according to electrocardiogram diagnosis was 38% for acute coronary syndrome, 40% for other acute CVD in Genoa center, 24% for acute coronary syndrome, and 38% for other acute CVD in Bari. Male/female ratio remained substantially unchanged. A dramatic reduction of telemedicine access for CVD was observed during Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020 in Italy. The reduction was substantially consistent for all electrocardiogram findings, ACS, other acute CVD and normal.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Covid-19; Telemedicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Changes in pre-hospital electrocardiogram number and diagnosis March 2019/March 2020 during Covid-19 outbreak in Italy. A 54% reduction was observed for non-urgent dispatch center in Genoa, 67% in Brescia, and 24% for EMS dispatch center in Bari. The relative reduction of diagnosis with suspect acute coronary syndrome was 24–38%. b Comparison of relative prevalence of diagnosis in pre-hospital telemedicine electrocardiograms. c Male/female ratio comparison of pre-hospital telemedicine electrocardiograms
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)". ArcGIS. Johns Hopkins CSSE. https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
    1. https://www.tctmd.com/news/mystery-missing-stemis-during-covid-19-pandemic. Accessed on April 10 2020.
    1. Molinari G, Molinari M, Di Biase M, Brunetti ND. Telecardiology and its settings of application: an update. J Telemed Telecare. 2018;24:373–381. doi: 10.1177/1357633X16689432. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brunetti ND, Molinari G, Acquistapace F, Zimotti T, Parati G, Indolfi C, Fedele F, Carugo S. 2019 italian society of cardiology census on telemedicine in cardiovascular disease: a report from the working group on telecardiology and informatics. Open Heart. 2020;7:e001157. doi: 10.1136/openhrt-2019-001157. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Caldarola P, Gulizia MM, Gabrielli D, Sicuro M, De Gennaro L, Giammaria M, Grieco NB, Grosseto D, Mantovan R, Mazzanti M, Menotti A, Brunett ND, Severi S, Russo G, Gensini GF. ANMCO/SIT consensus document: telemedicine for cardiovascular emergency networks. Eur Heart J Suppl. 2017;19:D229–D243. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/sux028. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types