Stuck between a rock and a hard place: The clinical conundrum of managing cardiac surgical patients during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Deferring nonemergent cardiac surgery became the strategy of choice for several international healthcare systems afflicted by high case burdens of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19) to both conserve valuable healthcare resources and protect patients from possible exposure. Missing from the available dataset to help guide policy development has been a clear understanding of the extent to which COVID-19 infection modulates cardiac surgery outcomes. In their investigation, Bonalumi et al. uncovered an inpatient COVID-19 positivity rate of almost 10 times higher than that of the general Italian population, as well as a mortality rate over 20 times higher amongst cardiac surgery patients with perioperative COVID-19 infection compared to those COVID-negative. While the summation of available evidence points to the serious consideration cardiac surgeons must give to delaying surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic, recognition must be given to the risks that postponing cardiac surgery may have on patient outcomes. Emerging data is beginning to demonstrate the efficacy of vaccination in preventing postoperative COVID-19 infection and morbidity.