CONCLUSION
At the moment, we believe that any patient requiring urgent cardiac intervention or surgery with a reasonable suspicion of COVID-19 should be assumed to be infectious. A less invasive treatment might be preferable to prevent potential complications. However, any treatment strategy in challenging situations like these should be based on the decision of the Heart Team comprising surgeons, cardiologists, anaesthesiologists and intensivists. Withholding or delaying treatment in a patient with a life-threatening condition on the basis of a possible or confirmed COVID-19-infection should not be an option.
Conflict of interest: none declared.