Santiago Garcia, MD, lead author of the study and director of the structural heart program at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, presented new data from the North American COVID-19 STEMI (NACMI) registry at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2022 meeting. He reported a 25% reduction in early mortality in 2021 compared to 2020 among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and COVID-19 infection and zero deaths for patients vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. The data was presented as a late-breaking study.
The NACMI registry is a collaboration between Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), ACC and Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology (CAIC). The registry was established in 2020 with to define baseline characteristics and management strategies and outcome data for COVID-positive patients presenting with STEMI. Sixty-four medical centers across North America and Canada contributed data to the registry. In the initial findings, it was reported that 33% of North American patients with both COVID-19 and a STEMI heart attack died in the hospital.
"We have seen significant changes in the patient profiles," Garcia said. "In the first wave of patients we treated in 2020, there was a preponderance of ethnic minorities of about 50%, which is rare for a North American STEMI registry. In 2021, the face of the STEMI patient was different with the majority being Caucasians who are less likely to present with respiratory symptoms and were more likely to present with the usual ischemic symptoms."
He said this change was not arbitrary, it was caused by increasing numbers of people getting the COVID vaccine.
Read more in the article — How the availability of vaccines impacted outcomes among STEMI patients with COVID-19
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Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com