Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34521355›Full record

ArticleBMC cardiovascular disorders2021

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on aortic valve surgical service: a single centre experience.

Dimitrios Vlastos, Ishaansinh Chauhan, Kwabena Mensah, Maria Cannoletta, Athanasios Asonitis, Ahmed Elfadil, Mario Petrou, Anthony De Souza, Cesare Quarto, Sunil K Bhudia and 3 more

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC cardiovascular disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 33% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Dimitrios VlastosRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. dimitrisbvr@hotmail.com.
Ishaansinh ChauhanRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Kwabena MensahRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Maria CannolettaRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Athanasios AsonitisRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Ahmed ElfadilRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Mario PetrouRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Anthony De SouzaRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Cesare QuartoRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Sunil K BhudiaRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Ulrich RosendahlRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
John PepperRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
George AsimakopoulosRoyal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe coronavirus-disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic imposed an unprecedented burden on the provision of cardiac surgical services. The reallocation of workforce and resources necessitated the postponement of elective operations in this cohort of high-risk patients. We investigated the impact of this outbreak on the aortic valve surgery activity at a single two-site centre in the United Kingdom.

methodsData were extracted from the local surgical database, including the demographics, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of patients operated on from March 2020 to May 2020 with only one of the two sites resuming operative activity and compared with the respective 2019 period. A similar comparison was conducted with the period between June 2020 and August 2020, when operative activity was restored at both institutional sites. The experience of centres world-wide was invoked to assess the efficiency of our services.

resultsThere was an initial 38.2% reduction in the total number of operations with a 70% reduction in elective cases, compared with a 159% increase in urgent and emergency operations. The attendant surgical risk was significantly higher [median Euroscore II was 2.7 [1.9-5.2] in 2020 versus 2.1 [0.9-3.7] in 2019 (p = 0.005)] but neither 30-day survival nor freedom from major post-operative complications (re-sternotomy for bleeding/tamponade, transient ischemic attack/stroke, renal replacement therapy) was compromised (p > 0.05 for all comparisons). Recommencement of activity at both institutional sites conferred a surgical volume within 17% of the pre-COVID-19 era.

conclusionsOur institution managed to offer a considerable volume of aortic valve surgical activity over the first COVID-19 outbreak to a cohort of higher-risk patients, without compromising post-operative outcomes. A backlog of elective cases is expected to develop, the accommodation of which after surgical activity normalisation will be crucial to monitor.

Indexed as

COVID-19AgedAged, 80 and overAortic ValveCardiac Surgical ProceduresDatabases, FactualElective Surgical ProceduresFemaleHeart Valve DiseasesHumansLondonMaleMiddle AgedOutcome and Process Assessment, Health CarePatient SafetyPostoperative ComplicationsAdult cardiac surgeryAortic valve surgeryCOVID-19PandemicService evaluation

Identifiers

PMID34521355
PMCPMC8438903
OpenAlexW3110025650

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.