Management of Structural Heart Disease and Acute Coronary Syndromes in the COVID-19 Pandemic

AbstractTranscatheter interventions for structural heart disease (SHD) now represent an effective alternative to surgery in selected patients. A clear premise is that delay in or neglect of treating patients in need of SHD intervention is associated with unavoidable morbidity and mortality because many of them have life-threatening conditions. However, the recent outbreak of coronavirus-associated disease-2019 (COVID-19) is placing an unprecedented strain on patients, physicians and world healthcare systems that resulted in deferral of elective and semi-elective procedures, such as SHD, and delay in the treatment of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We hereby present the case for a focused resumption of transcatheter SHD interventions in selected centers, in order to preserve patient safety and avoid that death rate will extend far beyond that directly associated with COVID-19. A similar approach should be applied to the invasive management of ACS. Indeed, a proactive and vigilant stance on managing SHD and ACS is crucial, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the risk of overlooking severely sick patients or postponing life-saving treatments is high. If such corrective measures are not put into effect, we may expect in the near future an excess of avoidable fatalities indirectly due to COVID-19 but truly caused by cardiovascular diseases, as well as an exceedingly large number of patients with severe heart failure leading to shorter life expecta...
Source: Current Atherosclerosis Reports - Category: Cardiology Source Type: research