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Updated: Nov 3, 2025
Identifying Coronary Artery Calcification on Non-gated Computed Tomography Scans
Published on: August 28, 2018
Chest radiography requirements for patients with asymptomatic COVID-19 undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery:
Amr Salah Omar1, Bassam Shoman1, Suraj Sudarsanan1
1Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Heart Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, DA, Qatar.
Insights
Cardiac surgery patients with COVID-19 can have a smooth recovery. Routine post-operative chest X-rays may not be necessary, minimizing healthcare worker exposure to the virus.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Thoracic Surgery
Background:
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses significant global healthcare challenges, leading to cancellations of elective surgeries.
- Urgent cardiac operations are critical for patients with COVID-19 due to their severe condition and the backlog of procedures.
Observation:
- This study details three urgent coronary surgery cases in COVID-19 positive patients.
- No patient experienced COVID-19 related clinical deterioration post-surgery.
- Healthcare providers did not contract infections from these patients.
Findings:
- Routine post-operative chest X-rays were not required for these COVID-19 positive cardiac surgery patients.
- The absence of routine chest X-rays did not negatively impact patient outcomes.
Implications:
- Cardiac surgical patients with COVID-19 may experience uncomplicated post-operative courses.
- Eliminating routine post-operative chest X-rays could streamline care and reduce healthcare worker exposure.
- Further research is needed to validate these findings in larger cohorts.
Background:
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, represents a major challenge to health care systems both globally and regionally, with many opting by cancelling elective surgeries. Cardiac operations in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 have been imperative due to their emergency nature, critical condition of patients awaiting cardiac surgery, and accumulated number of cardiac surgical interventions throughout the last months.
Case Summary:
Here we describe three COVID-19 positive cases who underwent coronary surgery, on an urgent basis. We did not experience worsening of the patients' clinical condition due to COVID-19 and therefore a routine post-operative chest X-ray (CXR) was not required. None of the health care providers attending the patients endured cross infection. Further trials would be needed in order to confirm these results.
Conclusion:
While the pandemic has adversely hit the health systems worldwide, cardiac surgical patients who concomitantly contracted COVID-19 may undergo a smooth post-operative course as a routine post-operative CXR may not be required.
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