Cardiac electrophysiology consultative experience at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly altered the practice of cardiac electrophysiology around the world for the foreseeable future. Professional organizations have provided guidance for practitioners, but real-world examples of the consults and responsibilities cardiac electrophysiologists face during a surge of COVID-19 patients is lacking. METHODS: In this observational case series we report on 29 consecutive inpatient electrophysiology consultations at a major academic medical center in New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, during a 2 week period from March 30-April 12, 2020, when 80% of hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, and the New York City metropolitan area accounted for 10% of COVID-19 cases worldwide. RESULTS: Reasons for consultation included: Atrial tachyarrhythmia (31%), cardiac implantable electronic device management (28%), bradycardia (14%), QTc prolongation (10%), ventricular arrhythmia (7%), post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement conduction abnormality (3.5%), ventricular pre-excitation (3.5%), and paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (3.5%). Twenty-four patients (86%) were positive for COVID-19 by nasopharyngeal swab. All elective procedures were canceled, and only one urgent device implantation was performed. Thirteen patients (45%) required in-person evaluation and the remainder were managed remotely. CONCLUSION: Our experience shows that the application of a massive alteration in workflow and personnel forced by the pandemic allowed our team to efficiently address the intersection of COVID-19 with a range of electrophysiology issues. This experience will prove useful as guidance for emerging hot spots or areas affected by future waves of the pandemic.

authors

  • Berman, Jeremy
  • Abrams, Mark P
  • Kushnir, Alexander
  • Rubin, Geoffrey A
  • Ehlert, Frederick
  • Biviano, Angelo
  • Morrow, John P
  • Dizon, Jose
  • Wan, Elaine Y
  • Yarmohammadi, Hirad
  • Waase, Marc P
  • Rubin, David A
  • Garan, Hasan
  • Saluja, Deepak

publication date

  • August 27, 2020

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC7450949

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85090305567

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.ipej.2020.08.006

PubMed ID

  • 32861812

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 20

issue

  • 6