COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on service provision: A cardiology prospect.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted the availability of cardiology services and management of cardiac conditions. Elective surgeries, outpatient appointments and cardiac imaging have been largely cancelled across the world due to the risk of infection transmission and the need for reallocation of resources to deal with the increasing number of COVID-19 patients. The impact on patients with cardiac co-morbidities during these times may be drastic. However, cardiologists and hospitals across the world have implemented measures to ensure on-going monitoring and care of patients remotely. In this review, we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on cardiac services including interventional cardiology services, cardiac imaging and outpatient appointments. In addition, implications for future research and clinical practice are also discussed.

COVID-19 and literature evidence: should we publish anything and everything?

COVID-19 first presented in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019. Since then, it has rapidly spread across the world, and is now formally considered a pandemic. As of 4th of May more than 3.2 million people have been infected and over 250,000 people has died. Since the very start, scientists and researchers have tried to utilize this case to publish academic experiences and suggestions toward fighting this virus, which is lethal in some cases. To date, more than 9,000 academic papers have been published since December 2019. The quality of publications varies from a plane letter to editor to randomized studies. This review aims to analyse the current published literature related to COVID-19 and assess the quality of such articles.

Gastrointestinal complications following cardiac surgery.

Gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery may be uncommon but they carry high mortality rates. Incidences range from 0.5% to 5.5%, while mortality rates of such complications vary from 0.3% to 87%. They range from small gastrointestinal bleeds, ileus, and pancreatitis to life-threatening complications such as liver failure and ischemic bowel. Due to the vague and often absence of specific signs and symptoms, diagnosis of a gastrointestinal complication is often late. This article aims to review and summarize the literature concerning gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery. We discuss the causes, risk factors, diagnosis, preventative measures, and management of these complications. In general, risk factor identification, preventive measures, early diagnosis, and swift management are the keys to reducing the occurrence of gastrointestinal complications and their associated morbidity and mortality.

The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation postcardiotomy-A systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in cardiac surgery has been established in cases of postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock, which is refractory to conventional therapy with inotropes and intra-aortic balloon pulsation support. We sought to examine the literature in a systematic review manner on the outcomes of using ECMO postcardiac surgery. METHODS: A comprehensive electronic literature search was done to identify all the articles that have discussed the use of ECMO postcardiac surgery. The keywords and medical subject headings terms were used to identify the relevant articles. Studies have been screened according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. RESULTS: The identified studies have been summarized in each relevant section of this study. Cardiogenic shock postcardiac surgery can benefit from ECMO to varying degrees and the survival for this; otherwise, fatal condition has been shown to be improving through the use of ECMO. However, the decision and timing to initiate ECMO therapy remains selective and is dependent on a range of factors such as patient factor, clinician's judgment, meaning there is no consistent and solid ground regarding the timing of ECMO initiation. CONCLUSION: Current evidence suggests that the circulatory support provided by ECMO improves survival rates for postcardiac surgery cardiogenic shock patients who are refractory to inotropic management, without such ECMO support patient mortality rates would be much greater.

COVID-19 and its impact on cardiology service.

COVID-19 has impacted the primary management of cardiac conditions, decreasing the number of interventions of coronary diseases. Elective coronary treatments and imaging have been largely cancelled across the world to make way for increased resources for COVID-19 patients. The impact on these cardiac patients during these times may be drastic. The number of hospital patients presenting with coronary symptoms during the outbreak has also decreased internationally. In this review, we discuss how COVID-19 has affected primary cardiac intervention globally and our service, possible reasons why, and how morbidity rates can be reduced by introducing scoring systems and telemedicine.