Cardiac Surgery in the time of the Novel Coronavirus: Why we should
think to a new normal
Abstract
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the
SARS-CoV-2 outbreak a pandemic: it took a toll of more than 300.000
deaths and more than 4.5 million cases, worldwide. The initial data
pointed out the tight bond between cardiovascular diseases and worse
outcomes in COVID19-patients. Epidemiologically speaking, there is an
overlap between the age-groups more affected by COVID-related death and
the age-groups in which Cardiac Surgery has its usual base of patients.
The Cardiac Surgery Departments have to think to a new normal: since the
virus will remain endemic in the society, dedicated pathways or even
dedicated Teams are pivotal to treat safely the patients, in respect of
the safety of the health care workers. Moreover, we need a keen eye on
deciding which pathologies have to be treated with priority: Coronary
Artery Disease (CAD) showed a higher mortality rate in patients affected
by COVID19, but it’s however reasonable to think that all the cardiac
pathologies affecting the lung circulation - such as symptomatic severe
mitral diseases or aortic stenosis - might deserve a priority access to
treatment, in order to increase the survival rate in case of an
acquired-Coronavirus infection later on.