Out of hospital management of LVAD patients during COVID-19 outbreak |
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Authors: | Silvia Mariani Jasmin S Hanke Günes Dogan Jan D Schmitto |
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Institution: | Department of Cardiothoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany |
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Abstract: | Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic touching thousands of people all around the world. Patients supported with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are affected by long-standing cardiovascular diseases and subjected to variations of the normal cardiovascular physiology, thus requiring an even closer monitoring during the COVID-19 outbreak. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a drastic reduction in routine clinical activities and a consequent risk of looser connections between LVAD patients and their referring center. Potential deleterious effects of such a situation can be a delayed recognition of LVAD-related complications, misdiagnosis of COVID-19, and impaired social and psychological well-being for patients and families. As one of the largest LVAD programs worldwide, we designed a sustainable and enforceable telemonitoring algorithm which can be easily adapted to every LVAD center so as to maintain optimal quality of care for LVAD patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Keywords: | coronavirus COVID-19 heart failure left ventricular assist device mechanical circulatory support |
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