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- Title
Heart Failure in the Time of COVID-19.
- Authors
Jiménez-Blanco Bravo, Marta; Cordero Pereda, David; Sánchez Vega, Diego; del Prado Díaz, Susana; Monteagudo Ruiz, Juan Manuel; Zamorano Gómez, José Luis; Alonso Salinas, Gonzalo Luis
- Abstract
Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged as a new threat to healthcare systems. In this setting, heart failure units have faced an enormous challenge: taking care of their patients while at the same time avoiding patients' visits to the hospital. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of a follow-up protocol established in an advanced heart failure unit at a single center in Spain during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: During March and April 2020, a protocolized approach was implemented in our unit to reduce the number of outpatient visits and hospital admissions throughout the maximum COVID-19 spread period. We compared emergency room (ER) visits, hospital admissions, and mortality with those of January and February 2020. Results: When compared to the preceding months, during the COVID pandemic there was a 56.5% reduction in the ER visits and a 46.9% reduction in hospital admissions, without an increase in mortality (9 patients died in both time periods). A total of 18 patients required a visit to the outpatient clinic for decompensation of heart failure or others. Conclusion: Our study suggests that implementing an active-surveillance protocol in acutely decompensated heart failure units during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic can reduce hospital admissions, ER visits and, potentially, viral transmission, in a cohort of especially vulnerable patients.
- Subjects
SPAIN; COVID-19; HEART failure; COVID-19 pandemic; VIRAL transmission; SARS-CoV-2
- Publication
Cardiology, 2020, Vol 145, Issue 8, p481
- ISSN
0008-6312
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1159/000509181