Impact of COVID-19 on Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery: Experience of Ibn Rochd University Hospital of Casablanca, Morocco

Introduction: The coronavirus pandemic has increasingly strained the limited resources that had previously maintained the sustainability of the high-cost cardiothoracic and vascular surgeries in low-income countries [1]. Methods: Teaching hospital databases and patients’ records were reviewed to evaluate the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the workflow. Postoperative patients were phoned for follow-up, as well as preoperative patients whose operations were cancelled. Authors conducted a retrospective and observational study to evaluate the workflow of cardiothoracic and vascular surgeries during the covid-19 pandemic compared to the same period in 2019. Results: While facing the pandemic, cardiothoracic and vascular surgeries have continued to thrive with 350 procedures instead of 327 procedures during the same period the previous year. Conclusion: Incompatible with what is commonly reported in the literature, surgeons’ surgical activity during the covid-19 period was greater than expected. Given that the results only concern the period from march to October. The study would benefit from being extended to December.