Successful coronary artery bypass operation in a SARS‐COV‐2 infected patient with acute coronary syndrome

Yandrapalli, Srikanth; Cooper, Howard A; Malekan, Ramin

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is overwhelming healthcare resources and infrastructure worldwide. Earlier reports have demonstrated complicated postoperative courses and high fatality rates in patients undergoing emergent cardiothoracic surgery who were diagnosed postoperatively with COVID‐19. These reports raise the possibility that active COVID‐19 might precipitate a catastrophic pathophysiological response to infection in the postoperative period and lead to unfavorable surgical outcomes. Hence, it is imperative to screen patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection before surgery and to carefully monitor them in the postoperative period to identify any signs of active COVID‐19. In this report, we present the successful outcome of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) operation in a patient with asymptomatic SARS‐CoV‐2 infection presenting with an acute coronary syndrome and requiring urgent surgical intervention. We employed a thorough strategy to identify subclinical COVID‐19 disease, and after confirming the absence of active disease, proceeded with the CABG operation. The patient outcome was successful with the absence of any overt COVID‐19 manifestations in the postoperative period.