Heart team consultations for patients with severe coronary artery disease or valvular heart disease in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic: a single-center experience

Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

Cardiovascular Medicine

Marcin Grabowski¹  Marcin Mikusek-Pham Van¹  Bartłomiej Grodziński¹  Michał Marchel¹  Tomasz Mazurek¹  Janusz Kochman¹  Grzegorz Opolski¹  Szymon Jonik¹  Elena Sztemberg¹  Maria Boszko¹  Dominik Łepecki¹  Mariusz Kuśmierczyk² 

[1] 1st Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland;Department of Cardiac Surgery, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland;

关键词: Heart Team;    COVID-19 pandemic;    multivessel coronary artery disease;    aortic stenosis;    mitral regurgitation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcvm.2023.1203535

 received in 2023-04-10, accepted in 2023-07-04,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionThe Heart Team (HT) as a group of experienced specialists is responsible for optimal decision-making for high-risk cardiac patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HT functioning.MethodsIn this retrospective, single-center study, we evaluated the cooperation of HT in terms of the frequency of meetings, the number of consulted patients, and the trends in choosing the optimal treatment strategies for complex individuals with severe coronary artery disease (CAD) or valvular heart disease (VHD) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland.ResultsFrom 2016 to May 2022, 301 HT meetings were held, and a total of 4,183 patients with severe CAD (2,060 patients) or severe VHD (2,123 patients) were presented. A significant decrease in the number of HT meetings and consulted patients (2019: 49 and 823 vs. 2020: 44 and 542 and 2021: 45 and 611, respectively, P < 0.001) as well as changes in treatment strategies—increase of conservative, reduction of invasive (2019: 16.7 and 51.9 patients/month vs. 2020: 20.4 and 24.8 patients/month and 2021:19.3 and 31.6 patients/month, respectively, P < 0.001)—were demonstrated with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic slowly receded, the observed changes began to return to the pre-pandemic trends.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a decrease in the number of HT meetings and consulted patients and significant reduction of invasive procedures in favor of conservative management. Further studies should be aimed to evaluate the long-term implications of this phenomenon.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© 2023 Jonik, Boszko, Sztemberg, Łepecki, Grodziński, Mikusek-Pham Van, Marchel, Kochman, Kuśmierczyk, Opolski, Grabowski and Mazurek.