The American journal of the medical sciences
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During the COVID-19 outbreak, numerous reports indicated a higher mortality rate among cardiovascular patients. We investigated how this trend applied to patients admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). ⋯ Among CICU patients admitted to our center during the initial period of the COVID pandemic, STEMI events were less frequent while cases of newly diagnosed HF sharply increased. Patients waited longer after symptom onset before seeking medical care during the pandemic. The delay may have resulted in clinical deterioration that could explain the high mortality rate and the new HF admission rate.