Heart Failure in the Time of COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged as a new threat to healthcare systems. In this setting, heart failure units have faced an enormous challenge: taking care of their patients while at the same time avoiding patients' visits to the hospital.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of a follow-up protocol established in an advanced heart failure unit at a single center in Spain during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

During March and April 2020, a protocolized approach was implemented in our unit to reduce the number of outpatient visits and hospital admissions throughout the maximum COVID-19 spread period. We compared emergency room (ER) visits, hospital admissions, and mortality with those of January and February 2020.

When compared to the preceding months, during the COVID pandemic there was a 56.5% reduction in the ER visits and a 46.9% reduction in hospital admissions, without an increase in mortality (9 patients died in both time periods). A total of 18 patients required a visit to the outpatient clinic for decompensation of heart failure or others.

Our study suggests that implementing an active-surveillance protocol in acutely decompensated heart failure units during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic can reduce hospital admissions, ER visits and, potentially, viral transmission, in a cohort of especially vulnerable patients.