Impact of Saharan dust on the incidence of acute coronary syndrome

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Asian desert dust has recently been recognized as a trigger for acute myocardial infarction. The inflow of dust from the Sahara into Spain impairs air quality due to an increase in particulate matter concentrations in the ambient air. The aim of the present study was to elucidate whether Saharan dust events are associated with the incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in patients living near North Africa, the major global dust source. METHODS: We prospectively collected data on hospitalizations due to ACS in 2416 consecutive patients from a tertiary care hospital (Canary Islands, Spain) from December 2012 to December 2017. Concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter 10 microns or smaller (PM10) and reactive gases were measured in the European Air Quality Network implemented in the Canary Islands. We applied the time-stratified case crossover design using conditional Poisson regression models to estimate the impact of PM10 Saharan dust events on the incidence of ACS. RESULTS: The occurrence of Saharan dust events observed 0 to 5 days before the onset of ACS was not significantly associated with the incidence of ACS. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) of PM10 levels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 days before ACS onset (for changes in 10mug/m(3)) were 1.27 (95%CI, 0.87-1.85), 0.92 (95%CI, 0.84-1.01), 0.74 (95%CI, 0.45-1.22), 0.98 (95%CI, 0.87-1.11), and 0.95 (95%CI, 0.84-1.06), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to Saharan desert dust is unlikely to be associated with the incidence of ACS.