Decline in the volume of structural heart procedures in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-7-2020

Publication Title

Structural Heart

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had an unprecedented impact on healthcare systems both globally and in the United States. To avoid unnecessary exposure to the staff, and to preserve limited resources, the Center for Disease Control recommended that institutions suspend elective medical procedures. As such, many structural heart procedures (SHP) were placed on hold throughout most healthcare systems. What constitutes an elective cardiac procedure, however, is not clearly defined. Moreover, COVID-19-associated delays in delivery of care have anecdotally been associated with adverse outcomes.1 For example, delays in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) have been associated with increased mortality in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS).2 Of all the structural heart interventions, TAVR represents the greatest number of interventions performed.

Volume

5

Issue

1

First Page

97

Last Page

98

DOI

10.1080/24748706.2020.1836436

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