Several thousand people have died from heart disease during the coronavirus pandemic, health economist Elin van den Broek-Altenburg said, the NL Times reported on March 5.
Van den Broek-Altenburg said about half of them should have had angioplasty sooner, but this was not possible because regular care had virtually ceased during pandemic restrictions.
The health economist examined the medical information of almost 113,000 people admitted to a Dutch hospital with heart problems between 2018 and 2021. Some required intervention for several days. Others had to wait longer for help. More people in both groups died from coronavirus in 2020 and 2021 than in the years before the outbreak, in 2018 and 2019.
Delaying the procedure mainly led to the death of people who needed care within days of diagnosis. There is also a significant increase in mortality among people who could wait longer for angioplasty. At that time, doctors were largely limited to people who might be in danger of dying and needed immediate help.
The delay in treatment had another consequence. People who underwent angioplasty late often had complaints again later and required emergency treatment. As a result, 2021 has seen a good number of acute interventions.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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