RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Impact of COVID-19 on the imaging diagnosis of cardiac disease in Europe
JF Open Heart
JO Open Heart
FD British Cardiovascular Society
SP e001681
DO 10.1136/openhrt-2021-001681
VO 8
IS 2
A1 Michelle Claire Williams
A1 Leslee Shaw
A1 Cole B Hirschfeld
A1 Pal Maurovich-Horvat
A1 Bjarne L Nørgaard
A1 Gianluca Pontone
A1 Amelia Jimenez-Heffernan
A1 Valentin Sinitsyn
A1 Vladimir Sergienko
A1 Alexey Ansheles
A1 Jeroen J Bax
A1 Ronny Buechel
A1 Elisa Milan
A1 Riemer H J A Slart
A1 Edward Nicol
A1 Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci
A1 Yaroslav Pynda
A1 Nathan Better
A1 Rodrigo Cerci
A1 Sharmila Dorbala
A1 Paolo Raggi
A1 Todd C Villines
A1 Joao Vitola
A1 Eli Malkovskiy
A1 Benjamin Goebel
A1 Yosef Cohen
A1 Michael Randazzo
A1 Thomas N B Pascual
A1 Maurizio Dondi
A1 Diana Paez
A1 Andrew J Einstein
A1 ,
YR 2021
UL http://openheart.bmj.com/content/8/2/e001681.abstract
AB Objectives We aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiac diagnostic testing and practice and to assess its impact in different regions in Europe.Methods The online survey organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency Division of Human Health collected information on changes in cardiac imaging procedural volumes between March 2019 and March/April 2020. Data were collected from 909 centres in 108 countries.Results Centres in Northern and Southern Europe were more likely to cancel all outpatient activities compared with Western and Eastern Europe. There was a greater reduction in total procedure volumes in Europe compared with the rest of the world in March 2020 (45% vs 41%, p=0.003), with a more marked reduction in Southern Europe (58%), but by April 2020 this was similar in Europe and the rest of the world (69% vs 63%, p=0.261). Regional variations were apparent between imaging modalities, but the largest reductions were in Southern Europe for nearly all modalities. In March 2020, location in Southern Europe was the only independent predictor of the reduction in procedure volume. However, in April 2020, lower gross domestic product and higher COVID-19 deaths were the only independent predictors.Conclusion The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on care of patients with cardiac disease, with substantial regional variations in Europe. This has potential long-term implications for patients and plans are required to enable the diagnosis of non-COVID-19 conditions during the ongoing pandemic.No data are available. As data were provided in confidence to the IAEA by survey respondents, sharing of the underlying data is not possible.