COVID-19 PANDEMIC IS ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED ADMISSIONS FOR STEMI, INCREASED ISCHAEMIA TIME, MORTALITY REMAINS THE SAME: DATA FROM A LOW COVID-19 MORBIDITY COUNTRY

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has put on an enormous pressure on the health system, aggravating timely diagnosis and treatment of other diseases, resulting in increased mortality We aimed to analyse whether COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the treatment of patients suffering from acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in a country with a low COVID-19 morbidity during the first wave Methods We conducted a retrospective data analysis from a tertiary centre in Lithuania Patients who presented with STEMI were analysed Data was collected from March 1 to June 30 in 2020 (quarantine period in Lithuania) and during the same period in 2019 Final study population was 317 patients Patients were divided into two groups: 2020 year (n=146) and 2019 year (n=171) The primary study endpoint was all-cause mortality during 3 months follow-up Secondary endpoint was first medical contact (FMC) to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) time Results Results are demonstrated in Table 1 All-cause mortality during 3 months follow up did not differ significantly (10 5% in 2019 and 6 8% in 2020, p=0 341) In 2019 74 3% of patients received PCI within recommended 120 minutes from the FMC, while this number was only 51 7% in 2020, p=0 024 [Formula presented] Conclusion There was a 9 3% reduction of admissions for STEMI during the first wave of COVID-19 FMC to PCI time has increased significantly in 2020, however, it did not translate into worse survival during follow-up