Electrophysiology and Interventional Cardiology Procedure Volumes During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has imposed an unprecedented health care crisis across the globe. Health care efforts across the world have been diverted to tackling the pandemic since early 2020. Hospitals and health care systems have undertaken major restructuring in an effort to deliver health care to an increasing number of patients affected by COVID-19. Although great focus has been placed on treating those individuals suffering from COVID-19, clinicians must simultaneously balance caring for patients who are not actively infected. In anticipation of an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases, health care systems developed strategies to channel available resources to meet the rapidly rising demands of COVID-19. This change was noticed significantly in the field of invasive cardiology as well. Many cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology (EP) laboratories canceled elective procedures to limit the burden on hospital resources and preserve personal protective equipment (PPE). Major societies published guidance statements delineating patient selection for procedures during the exponential phase of the pandemic growth. Patient care was triaged and those waiting for elective procedures were managed with expectant care or noninvasive approaches to preserve hospital resources and personnel. In the current article, we review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its response to the volume of interventional cardiology (IC) and EP procedures across the world.