Acute infection is suspected of involvement in the onset of acute myocardial infarction (MI). We aimed to assess the incidence, pathogenesis and prognosis of post-infectious MI. All consecutive patients hospitalized for an acute MI in coronary care units were prospectively included. Post-infectious MI was defined by a concurrent diagnosis of acute infection at admission. Type 1 MI (acute plaque disruption) or Type 2 MI (imbalance in oxygen supply/demand) were adjudicated according to the universal definition of MI. From the 4573 patients admitted for acute MI, 466 (10%) had a concurrent acute infection (median age 78 (66–85) y, 60% male), of whom 313 (67%) had a respiratory tract infection. Type 2 MI was identified in 72% of post-infectious MI. Compared with other MI, post-infectious MI had a worse in-hospital outcome (11 vs. 6% mortality, p < 0.01), mostly from cardiovascular causes. After adjusting for confounders, acute infections were no more associated with mortality (odds ratio 0.72; 95% confidence interval 0.43–1.20). In the group of post-infectious MI, Type 1 MI and respiratory tract infection were associated with a worse prognosis (respective odds ratio 2.44; 95% confidence interval: 1.12–5.29, and 2.89; 1.19–6.99). In this large MI survey, post-infectious MI was common, accounting for 10% of all MI, and doubled in-hospital mortality. Respiratory tract infection and Type 1 post-infectious MI were associated with a worse prognosis.

This review was conducted to emphasize the complex interplay between atrial fibrillation (AF) and myocardial infraction (MI). In type 1 (T1) MI, AF is frequent and associated with excess mortality. Moreover, AF after hospital discharge for T1MI is not rare, suggesting the need to improve AF screening and to develop therapeutic strategies for AF recurrence. Additionally, AF is a common trigger for type 2 MI (T2MI), and recent data have shown that tachyarrhythmia or bradyarrhythmia could be a causal factor in, respectively, 13–47% or 2–7% of T2MI. In addition, AF is involved in T2MI pathogenesis as a result of severe anemia related to anticoagulants. AF is also an underestimated and frequent cause of coronary artery embolism (CE), as a situation at risk of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries. AF-causing CE is difficult to diagnose and requires specific management. Moreover, patients with both AF and chronic coronary syndromes represent a therapeutic challenge because the treatment of AF include anticoagulation, depending on the embolic risk, and ischemic heart disease management paradoxically includes antiplatelet therapy.

Background: We aimed to investigate the impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown on medication adherence, physician access, lifestyle behaviours, and mental health in patients with chronic conditions. Methods: A cross-sectional phone survey was conducted in 1274 housebound adults recruited from 8 regional chronic disease cohorts (CLEO CD study: NCT04390126). Results: Medication adherence was 97%; 305 (41%) patients declared that at least one scheduled visit with a physician was missed during the first lockdown. The main changes in lifestyle behaviours were deterioration in sleep time (duration and/or quality; 71%), increase in screen time (46%), and decrease in physical activity (46%). Nineteen percent experienced psychological distress (Kessler-6 score ≥ 5). An urban living place (OR, 1.76 vs. rural; 95% CI, 1.32–2.33; p = 10⁻⁴), worse self-reported mental health (OR, 1.62 vs. about the same or better; 95% CI, 1.17–2.25; p = 0.003), and a K6 score ≥ 5 (OR, 1.52 vs. <5; 95% CI, 1.05–2.21; p = 0.03) were independent factors associated with at least one unhealthy behaviour. Conclusions: Encouraging results were observed in terms of medication adherence. Caution is needed in chronic disease patients living in urban places as well as those presenting psychological distress and worse self-reported mental health to reduce unhealthy behaviours.

Acute infection is a frequent trigger of myocardial infarction (MI). However, whether percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) improves post-infectious MI prognosis is a major but unsolved issue. In this prospective multicenter study from coronary care units, we performed propensity score-matched analysis to compare outcomes in patients with and without PCI for post-infectious MI with angiography-proven significant coronary stenosis (>50%). Among 4573 consecutive MI patients, 476 patients (10%) had a concurrent diagnosis of acute infection at admission, of whom 375 underwent coronary angiography and 321 patients had significant stenosis. Among the 321 patients, 195 underwent PCI. Before the matching procedure, patients without PCI had a similar age and sex ratio but a higher rate of risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, chronic renal failure, and prior coronary artery disease), pneumonia, and SYNTAX score than patients without PCI. After propensity score matching, neither in-hospital mortality (13% with PCI vs. 8% without PCI; p = 0.4) nor one-year mortality (24% with PCI vs. 19% without PCI, p = 0.5) significantly differed between the two groups. In this first prospective cohort of post-infectious MI in coronary care units, PCI might not improve short- and long-term prognosis in patients with angiography-proven significant coronary stenosis. If confirmed, these results do not argue for systematic invasive procedures after post-infectious MI.