Impact of a prolonged COVID-19 lockdown on patterns of admission, mortality and performance indicators in a cardiovascular intensive care unit.

Background: The effects of an early and prolonged lockdown during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on cardiovascular intensive care units (CICUs) are not well established.

Objectives: This study analyses patterns of admission, mortality and performance indicators in a CICU before and during the Argentine lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational cross-sectional study of all consecutive patients aged 18 years or more admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit at a high-volume reference hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina, comparing hospitalization rates, primary causes of admission, inpatient utilization indicators, pharmacy supplies' expenditures and in-hospital mortality between 5 March and 31 July 2020, with two corresponding control periods in 2019 and 2018.

[Pulmonary embolism. Clinical suspicion and anatomopathological correlation].

Discrepancies between clinical suspicion and pathological findings in pulmonary embolism (PE) appear to be frequent. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of PE in a necropsy series of patients who have died in an acute care hospital between 1998-2017, its relationship with previous clinical suspicion, and its importance as a cause of death. It is a retrospective observational study of 350 autopsies done at the Department of Pathology.

[Simple mechanical reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction: determinants, prognostic implications and relation with thrombus histology].

Simple mechanical reperfusion (SMR) is defined as reperfusion achieved after wire insertion at the occluded infarct-related artery in primary angioplasty. The determinants and prognostic implications of SMR and its relationship with the histopathology of the rescued thrombus were evaluated in 601 patients with acute myocardial infarction showing ST elevation and pre-procedural total occlusion of the infarct-related artery (TIMI flow 0). Two groups were considered according to the presence of SMR, defined as the visualization of contrast material after crossing the occlusion with the guide wire.