Impact of COVID-19 on Emergency Management of Acute Type A Aortic Dissection: A Single-Center Historic Control Study

The present study aimed to clarify the impact of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on emergency management of acute type A aortic dissection. We consecutively enrolled 337 acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) patients at emergency room in Fuwai Hospital (Beijing, China) from January to June during the 2020 COVID-19 epidemic (n = 148) and the same period in 2019 as the historical control (n = 189). The primary outcome was defined as in-hospital death. Other outcomes included automatic discharge during emergency admission. The factors with significant differences before and after the epidemic were compared and analyzed by stages with the study endpoint to clarify their changes in different stages of the epidemic. There was no significant difference in in-hospital mortality (35 (20.5%) vs. 23 (17.4%), = 0.472). Compared with year 2019, proportion of patients receiving surgical treatment decreased significantly (74 (50.0%) vs. 129 (68.25%), 0.001). The surgery time of ATAAD patients in 2020 was significantly shorter (6.46 [5.52, 7.51] vs. 7.33 [6.00, 8.85] hours, = 0.01). The length of stay in the emergency department significantly differed at each stage. Our study demonstrated a significant reduction in the number of ATAAD patients and surgical treatment during COVID-19 outbreak. The surgical strategy of patients changed, but the overall mortality was largely the same. Patients undergoing surgery had a trend toward longer interval from the onset to the operating room, but they tended to be normal at the end of the epidemic. Proper epidemic prevention policies may avoid COVID-19 hitting patients who are not infected with the virus to the greatest extent.