Evaluating the COVID-19 Phase pandemic on Cardiac Health and Management strategies: Hospital Based Study

Abstract

Background: Obstruction of the coronary circulatory system leads to cardiac diseases such as acute coronary syndrome and coronary artery disease. COVID-19 is known to interact with the cardiac cell receptor ACE2, along with other proteins, leading to vasoconstriction and restricted blood supply to the myocardium. Aim: This study investigates the adverse impact of COVID-19 on patients’ cardiac health and its management strategies during the pandemic phase (2020–2022), across which different viral variants emerged.

Material and Methods: We conducted a retrospective and prospective study in which we collected six months of cardiac patient report data from the hospital database for each of the three years: 2020, 2021, and 2022. Results: The highest number of cardiac patient cases was recorded in 2021, compared with both 2020 and 2022, and the number of cardiac patients in 2022 was higher than in 2020. Significant changes were observed in the trend of cardiac patients’ disease-management strategy, in both invasive (revascularization) and non-invasive (medicinal management) methods. The trend of invasive treatment increased, reflecting a higher proportion of cardiac patients with greater disease severity.

Conclusion: In 2021, the number of reported cardiac patients was highest, and both surgical (revascularization) and medicinal management were used significantly more often than in 2020 and 2022.