Impact of temperature and atmospheric pressure on the incidence of major acute cardiovascular events

The impact of meteorological conditions on the occurrence of various cardiovascular events has been reported internationally. Data about the Dutch situation are limited. We sought to find out a correlation between weather conditions and the incidence of major acute cardiovascular events such as type A acute aortic dissection (AAD), acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and acutely presented abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAA). Between January 1998 and February 2010, patients who were admitted to our hospital (Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, the Netherlands) because of AAD ( = 212), AMI ( = 11389) or AAAA ( = 1594) were registered. These data were correlated with the meteorological data provided by the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) over the same period. During the study period, a total number of 11,412 patients were admitted with AMI, 212 patients with AAD and 1593 patients with AAAA. A significant correlation was found between the daily temperature and the number of hospital admissions for AAD. The lower the daily temperature, the higher the incidence of AAD ( = 0.002). Lower temperature was also a predictor of a higher incidence of AMI ( = 0.02). No significant correlation was found between daily temperature and onset of AAAA. Cold weather is correlated with a higher incidence of AAD and AMI.