“The delays in assistance recorded in the various pandemic waves make real the risk of a surge in heart disease patients and a regression of cardiovascular mortality to the levels of 20 years ago”. This was argued by Ciro Indolfi, vice president of the Federation of Oncologists, Cardiologists and Hematologists (Foce) and president of the Italian Cardiology Society (Sic), also based on study data, in particular the research published in ‘Nature Medicine’ according to which for those recovered from Covid the danger of heart failure increases by 72%. The research, carried out on 150 thousand patients recovered from Covid-19 compared with over 5 million healthy controls, has shown that, after the infection, the risk of cardiovascular diseases increases significantly, even in those under the age of 65 without risk factors such as obesity or diabetes. It has also been shown that patients recovered from the pandemic virus are 52% more likely to have a stroke
“A worrying picture is emerging – continues Indolfi – that risks undoing the important achievements achieved in over 20 years. Heart diseases affect 7.5 million people in Italy. In 36 years (1980-2016) the total mortality for Cardiovascular disease has more than halved and the contribution of new therapies has been the one that has affected this trend the most. But the pandemic is undoing all these advances. It is not unjustified alarmism, as some have even claimed. Our concerns are based. on reliable data “
The downsizing of assistance was highlighted by a recent survey conducted by the Italian Society of Cardiology (Sic) in 45 hospitals distributed throughout the country in two different phases, in November / December 2021 and January 2022: 68% of the centers reduced the elective (planned) admissions of cardiac patients, 50% decreased the offer of diagnostic tests and 45% cut outpatient visits. 22% even had to reduce the number of beds in intensive cardiac care.
“During the first wave of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, emergency hospital admissions for heart attacks and strokes were halved, many people died at home or survived with severe heart or brain damage, because serious cardiovascular events are time-dependent “, says Indolfi.
“This new survey corroborates our fears of a resumption of mortality and worse prognosis for heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. Coronary angioplasty, procedures for the implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators, ablations have decreased. Not only that. reduced electrocardiograms, echocardiography and stress tests. All this is alarming: heart patients have no longer found adequate assistance for the prevention and treatment of their diseases. And it is estimated that one in five people infected with Covid-19 goes encountering cardiovascular consequences “.
Possible concrete solutions are outlined in an editorial published in ‘Circulation’, co-signed by Indolfi. “There is a disparity, which must be resolved, between the standards of assistance provided in the various Regions, especially with regard to highly complex diagnoses or interventions in the South. Furthermore, funding from the Recovery Fund of the European Commission can allow the renewal of the infrastructures of large hospitals. , with particular regard to the distribution of technologies on the territory. And it is necessary to invest in research. Despite the high quality of Italian cardiology research, the resources are insufficient. In 14 years, the funds have varied from 1% to 1.4% of gross domestic product, while the European average is 2% “, he concludes.
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