Cardiac Surgery in the Time of Coronavirus

摘要

Worldwide we are facing the novel coronavirus outbreak; in many countries, the health systems are under a tremendous pressure due to the lack of preparation. Speaking about cardiac surgery units, the pandemic affects our daily routine in different ways: limited intensive care unit (ICU) beds and ventilation sites, necessity to postpone elective and/or complex cardiac surgeries, shortage of healthcare workers, sick healthcare staff and/or risk of infection of our Teams, risk of developing COVID-19 after cardiac surgery, and patients with COVID-19 needing urgent cardiac operations without having a properly organized operating room and ICU.