In Paris, cases of sudden cardiac arrest outside of the clinics doubled during the corona pandemic. The weekly out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest incidence was 26.64 per million population for weeks 13 and 14 of this year.
The analysis revealed that during the pandemic, more people suffered sudden cardiac arrest in their homes than in previous years. A comparison with previous years also showed that fewer patients were diagnosed with a shockable rhythm, in which timely resuscitation can save lives. According to the authors, the rise in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) cases could only be partially explained by COVID-19 diseases. COVID-19 had been diagnosed with certainty in less than 10% of all OHCA patients, but the exact proportion of those actually infected is not known.
For fear of infection
The authors also suspect that a patient’s postponed doctor’s appointment for fear of SARS-CoV-2 infection could be another reason.
This could also explain the rarer attempts at resuscitation: laypeople and medical staff may be more reluctant to resuscitate for fear of infection. Last but not least, the overloaded emergency rooms in Paris also played a role.
