Management strategy of an inpatient requiring urgent coronary artery
revascularisation with prolonged SARS-CoV-2 shedding
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which
originated in China, is the cause of the global pandemic Coronavirus
Disease 19 (Covid-19). To date, there is no widely available vaccine or
treatment, hence containment strategies are currently centred around
measures ameliorating human transmission via social distancing and
quarantine. Due to the magnitude of the pandemic, elective operative
work had ceased within cardiac surgery at our institution and strategies
adapted to facilitate safe management of surgical candidates. Here, we
present the case report of an asymptomatic inpatient with prolonged
viral shedding on real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on
oropharyngeal swabs who required urgent coronary artery
revascularisation, and the lessons learnt from the adapted management
strategy deployed for revascularisation during the COVID-19 pandemic.