ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced our cardiac surgery program and hospital to enact drastic measures that has forced us to change how we care for cardiac surgery patients, assist with COVID-19 care, and enable support for the hospital in terms of physical resources, providers, and resident training. METHODS: In this review, we review the cardiovascular manifestations of COVID-19 and describe our system-wide adaptations to the pandemic, including the use of telemedicine, how a severe reduction in operative volume affected our program, the process of redeployment of staff, repurposing of residents into specific task teams, the creation of operation room intensive care units, and the challenges that we faced in this process. RESULTS: We offer a revised set of definitions of surgical priority during this pandemic and how this was applied to our system, followed by specific considerations in coronary/valve, aortic, heart failure and transplant surgery. Finally, we outline a path forward for cardiac surgery for the near future. CONCLUSIONS: We recognize that individual programs around the world will eventually face COVID-19 with varying levels of infection burden and different resources, and we hope this document can assist programs to plan for the future.
Subject(s)
Academic Medical Centers/organization & administration , Betacoronavirus , Cardiac Surgical Procedures , Coronavirus Infections , Health Care Rationing , Health Services Accessibility/organization & administration , Pandemics , Perioperative Care/methods , Pneumonia, Viral , Adult , Betacoronavirus/isolation & purification , COVID-19 , Cardiac Surgical Procedures/trends , Cardiovascular Diseases/diagnosis , Cardiovascular Diseases/therapy , Cardiovascular Diseases/virology , Coronavirus Infections/complications , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/therapy , Female , Health Care Rationing/methods , Health Care Rationing/organization & administration , Humans , Infection Control/methods , Infection Control/organization & administration , Intensive Care Units/organization & administration , Male , Middle Aged , New York City/epidemiology , Operating Rooms/organization & administration , Patient Care Team/organization & administration , Personnel Staffing and Scheduling/organization & administration , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Viral/therapy , SARS-CoV-2 , Telemedicine/methods , Telemedicine/organization & administrationABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced our cardiac surgery programme and hospital to enact drastic measures that has forced us to change how we care for cardiac surgery patients, assist with COVID-19 care and enable support for the hospital in terms of physical resources, providers and resident training. METHODS: In this review, we review the cardiovascular manifestations of COVID-19 and describe our system-wide adaptations to the pandemic, including the use of telemedicine, how a severe reduction in operative volume affected our programme, the process of redeployment of staff, repurposing of residents into specific task teams, the creation of operation room intensive care units, and the challenges that we faced in this process. RESULTS: We offer a revised set of definitions of surgical priority during this pandemic and how this was applied to our system, followed by specific considerations in coronary/valve, aortic, heart failure and transplant surgery. Finally, we outline a path forward for cardiac surgery for the near future. CONCLUSIONS: We recognize that individual programmes around the world will eventually face COVID-19 with varying levels of infection burden and different resources, and we hope this document can assist programmes to plan for the future.
Subject(s)
Academic Medical Centers/organization & administration , Betacoronavirus , Cardiac Surgical Procedures , Cardiovascular Diseases/surgery , Coronavirus Infections , Health Care Rationing/organization & administration , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Telemedicine/trends , COVID-19 , Cardiovascular Diseases/diagnosis , Cardiovascular Diseases/virology , Coronavirus Infections/complications , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Health Services Accessibility/organization & administration , Humans , Intensive Care Units/organization & administration , New York City/epidemiology , Operating Rooms/organization & administration , Pandemics/prevention & control , Patient Care Team/organization & administration , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control , SARS-CoV-2 , Telemedicine/methods , Telemedicine/organization & administrationABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced our cardiac surgery program and hospital to enact drastic measures that has forced us to change how we care for cardiac surgery patients, assist with COVID-19 care, and enable support for the hospital in terms of physical resources, providers, and resident training. METHODS: In this review, we review the cardiovascular manifestations of COVID-19 and describe our system-wide adaptations to the pandemic, including the use of telemedicine, how a severe reduction in operative volume affected our program, the process of redeployment of staff, repurposing of residents into specific task teams, the creation of operation room intensive care units, and the challenges that we faced in this process. RESULTS: We offer a revised set of definitions of surgical priority during this pandemic and how this was applied to our system, followed by specific considerations in coronary/valve, aortic, heart failure and transplant surgery. Finally, we outline a path forward for cardiac surgery for the near future. CONCLUSIONS: We recognize that individual programs around the world will eventually face COVID-19 with varying levels of infection burden and different resources, and we hope this document can assist programs to plan for the future.