Cardiovascular Care of the Oncology Patient During COVID-19: An Expert Consensus Document From the ACC Cardio-Oncology and Imaging Councils
Lauren A. Baldassarre, Eric H. Yang, Richard K. Cheng, Jeanne M. DeCara, Susan Dent, Jennifer E. Liu, Lawrence Rudski, Jordan B. Strom, Paaladinesh Thavendiranathan, Ana Barac, Vlad G. Zaha, Chiara Bucciarelli‐Ducci, Samer Ellahham, Anita Deswal, Carrie Lenneman, Hector R. Villarraga, Anne Blaes, Roohi Ismail‐Khan, Bonnie Ky, Monika Leja, Marielle Scherrer‐Crosbie
Abstract
In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Cardio-Oncology and Imaging Councils of the American College of Cardiology offers recommendations to clinicians regarding the cardiovascular care of cardio-oncology patients in this expert consensus statement. Cardio-oncology patients-individuals with an active or prior cancer history and with or at risk of cardiovascular disease-are a rapidly growing population who are at increased risk of infection, and experiencing severe and/or lethal complications by COVID-19. Recommendations for optimizing screening and monitoring visits to detect cardiac dysfunction are discussed. In addition, judicious use of multimodality imaging and biomarkers are proposed to identify myocardial, valvular, vascular, and pericardial involvement in cancer patients. The difficulties of diagnosing the etiology of cardiovascular complications in patients with cancer and COVID-19 are outlined, along with weighing the advantages against risks of exposure, with the modification of existing cardiovascular treatments and cardiotoxicity surveillance in patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.