Short-term air pollution concentration variations and ST-elevation myocardial infarction: A case-crossover study from the SCALIM registry

Background The relationship between short-term variations of air pollutants concentrations and occurrence of ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains controversial. Most studies have been performed in highly polluted areas. Aims To analyze the association between air pollutant concentrations and admission for STEMI in a low-to-average polluted urban area. Methods We reviewed the medical data of the prospective SCALIM registry to identify all patients (n = 631) admitted between 06/2011 and 12/2018 for STEMI in our department living in the urban area of Limoges, France, and matched them with daily and hourly averaged concentrations of air pollutants (particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm, PM2.5, and ≤ 10 μm PM10, nitrogen dioxide, NO2, and ozone, O3) monitored in the same area. Each patient was his/her own control in this study with four control periods in the past month preceding the STEMI case. Results The risk of STEMI was 30.5% higher with every 10-units PM10 peak concentration increase in the two hours preceding STEMI symptoms (P  Conclusion The PM10 pollution level was associated with the risk of STEMI, even in an area not considered as highly polluted.