Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Tertiary-Level Electrophysiology Laboratory in Italy
Paolo Compagnucci, Giovanni Volpato, Riccardo Pascucci, Umberto Falanga, Agostino Misiani, Silvano Molini, Giulio Spinucci, Laura Cipolletta, Manuel Conti, Gino Grifoni, Laura Carboni, Gian Piero Perna, Christopher Münch, Marco Di Eusanio, Alessandro Capucci, Michela Casella, Federico Guerra, Antonio Dello Russo
Abstract
ver the past 3 months, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread from China to Europe and the rest of the world.The pandemic severely hit the central part of Italy, with almost 6000 confirmed cases out of 1.5 million inhabitants in the Marche region as of April 24, 2020. 1 Among the common, highly heterogeneous and deadly cardiovascular complications of COVID-19, 2 arrhythmias represent a frequent occurrence. 3Furthermore, even during the pandemic, arrhythmias, or device-related issues in patients with heart disease and without COVID-19 are continuing to require evaluation by electrophysiologists. Therefore, electrophysiology laboratories have continued providing highly needed services while adapting to this unprecedented health crisis. 3,4Recently, consensus recommendations for the management of electrophysiology procedures were provided, mandating the cancellation or postponement of elective cases. 4However, little is known about the real-world impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on high-volume electrophysiology laboratories.We conducted a single-center, retrospective, observational study.We enrolled patients undergoing electrophysiology procedures at the University Hospital "Ospedali Riuniti" in Ancona, Italy, a tertiary-level referral center.Data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.We included all consecutive patients who underwent electrophysiology procedures since March 9, 2020, when novel health care measures were taken in the cardiology department due to the COVID-19 outbreak, until April 26, 2020.These patients were compared with those undergoing electrophysiology procedures in the preceding 6 months (September 9, Downloaded from http://ahajournals.org