Thousands of heart patients died due to delayed care in coronavirus pandemic: researcher

During the coronavirus pandemic, several thousand additional people died from heart complaints. About half of them probably should have had an angioplasty earlier, but that was not possible because regular care was virtually at a standstill at that time, according to health economist Eline van den Broek-Altenburg.

The health economist studied the medical information of almost 113,000 people who ended up in a Dutch hospital with heart complaints between 2018 and 2021. Some required intervention within a few days. Others had to wait longer for help. More people died in both groups in the coronavirus years 2020 and 2021 than in the years before the outbreak, 2018 and 2019.

The postponement of angioplasty mainly led to deaths among people who needed help within a few days of diagnosis. There is also a significant excess mortality among people who could wait longer for angioplasty. At that time, doctors mainly limited themselves to people possibly in mortal danger and needing immediate help.

The postponement of the treatments also had another consequence. People who underwent angioplasty with delay often developed complaints again later and then needed urgent care. As a result, there were quite a few acute interventions in 2021.

Due to this excess mortality, the number of people dying from heart problems increased after years of decline. “Total cardiac mortality decreased, but the pandemic has reversed that decrease,” Van den Broek-Altenburg said.

Van den Broek-Altenburg will present her conclusions on Tuesday at a conference of the organization ZonMw, which finances innovation and research in healthcare. The organization subsidized Van den Broek-Altenburg and others’ research after a motion passed in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament.

Van den Broek-Altenburg hopes to continue her research. She wants to look into the long-term damage from the coronavirus pandemic. She also wants to know whether the number of people dying from heart problems is declining again now that the pandemic is over.