European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Dec 2020
Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the Italian congenital cardiac surgery system: a national survey.
Italy has been one of the countries most severely affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Italian government was forced to introduce quarantine measures quickly, and all elective health services were stopped or postponed. This emergency has dramatically changed the management of paediatric and adult patients with congenital heart disease. We analysed data from 14 Italian congenital cardiac surgery centres during lockdown, focusing on the impact of the pandemic on surgical activity, patients and healthcare providers and resource allocation. ⋯ Our study shows that the pandemic had a different impact on the various Italian congenital cardiac surgery centres based on the different patterns of spread of the virus across the country. During the lockdown, the system was able to satisfy all emergency clinical needs with excellent results.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Dec 2020
Endocarditis-related stroke is not a contraindication for early cardiac surgery: an investigation among 440 patients with left-sided endocarditis.
A treatment dilemma arises when surgery is indicated in patients with infective endocarditis (IE) complicated by stroke. Neurologists recommend surgery to be postponed for at least 1 month. This study aims to investigate the neurological complication rate and neurological recovery potential in patients with IE-related stroke. ⋯ UN4232 382/3.1 (retrospective study).
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Dec 2020
Safety of patients and providers in lung cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in patient reluctance to seek care due to fear of contracting the virus, especially in New York City which was the epicentre during the surge. The primary objectives of this study are to evaluate the safety of patients who have undergone pulmonary resection for lung cancer as well as provider safety, using COVID-19 testing, symptoms and early patient outcomes. ⋯ Pulmonary resection for lung cancer is safe in selected patients, even when performed by providers who care for COVID-19 patients in a hospital with a large COVID-19 census. None of our patients or providers developed symptoms of COVID-19 and no patient experienced major morbidity or mortality.