European heart journal
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European heart journal · Jun 2020
Multicenter StudyCOVID-19 kills at home: the close relationship between the epidemic and the increase of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
An increase in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) incidence has been reported in the very early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic, but a clear demonstration of a correlation between the increased incidence of OHCA and COVID-19 is missing so far. We aimed to verify whether there is an association between the OHCA difference compared with 2019 and the COVID-19 epidemic curve. ⋯ The increase in OHCAs in 2020 is significantly correlated to the COVID-19 pandemic and is coupled with a reduction in short-term outcome. Government and local health authorities should seriously consider our results when planning healthcare strategies to face the epidemic, especially considering the expected recurrent outbreaks.