3 research outputs found
Early outcomes and complications following cardiac surgery in patients testing positive for coronavirus disease 2019: An international cohort study
The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndromecoronavirus-2, the cause of coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19) in December 2019 represented a global
emergency accounting for more than 2.5 million deaths
worldwide.1 It has had an unprecedented influence on
cardiac surgery internationally, resulting in cautious
delivery of surgery and restructuring of services.2
Understanding the influence of COVID-19 on patients after
cardiac surgery is based on assumptions from other surgical
specialties and single-center studies.
The COVIDSurg Collaborative conducted a multicenter
cohort study, including 1128 patients, across 235 hospitals,
from 24 countries demonstrating perioperative COVID-19
infection was associated with an overall mortality of 24%
and postoperative pulmonary complications in half of all
patients.3 Cardiac surgery arguably represents a higher
risk population than general or orthopedic surgery due to
the high American Society of Anesthesiologists grades
and multiple comorbidities usually seen. We present a
subgroup analysis of COVIDSurg data, including patients
who underwent cardiac surgery between March 1, 2020,
and July 31, 2020, across 13 countries, with a confirmed
perioperative (7 days preoperative up to 30 days
postoperative) diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. This is
presented in accordance with the Strengthening the
Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology
statement for cohort studies.4 Categorical variables were
expressed as frequency and percentages and c2 or Fisher
exact test was used to compare categorical variables. Only
anonymized data were collected. Patient consent was
obtained unless it was waived by local research committees.
In the United Kingdom, the study was registered at each site
as either a clinical audit or service evaluation and consent
was waived. In other countries, local investigators were
responsible for contacting research ethics committees to
obtain local or national approvals in line with applicable
regulations