Recommendations for risk stratified use of cardiac computed tomography for congenital heart disease during the COVID-19 pandemic

Kanwal M Farooqi; Brian B Ghoshhajra; Amee M Shah; Anjali Chelliah; Andrew J Einstein; Anthony Hlavacek; B Kelly Han

doi:10.1016/j.jcct.2020.06.003

Recommendations for risk stratified use of cardiac computed tomography for congenital heart disease during the COVID-19 pandemic

J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2020 Jul-Aug;14(4):291-293. doi: 10.1016/j.jcct.2020.06.003. Epub 2020 Jun 9.

Authors

Kanwal M Farooqi¹, Brian B Ghoshhajra², Amee M Shah³, Anjali Chelliah⁴, Andrew J Einstein⁵, Anthony Hlavacek⁶, B Kelly Han⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Radiology, Division of Cardiovascular Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Goryeb Children's Hospital, Morristown Medical Center, Morristown, NJ, USA.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; Department of Radiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, USA.
⁶ Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital, Charleston, SC, USA.
⁷ Children's Hospital of Minnesota and the Minneapolis Heart Institute, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

Abstract

The impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States and around the world has required significant changes to medical practice. Amidst the rapidly evolving public health emergency, hospital centers have been required to postpone elective procedures, preserve personal protective equipment (PPE), practice social distancing and limit staff exposures. Patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) often need urgent evaluation, most commonly for preprocedural evaluation. We have stratified the most common indications for cardiac computed tomography (CCT) imaging in patients with CHD to help guide care for these patients during the COVID-19 pandemic including considerations for reopening.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cardiac CT; Congenital heart disease.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus*
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / prevention & control*
Heart / diagnostic imaging
Heart Defects, Congenital / diagnostic imaging*
Humans
Pandemics / prevention & control*
Pneumonia, Viral / prevention & control*
Risk
SARS-CoV-2
Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*