The COVID-19 crisis is not impacting cardiovascular procedures as heavily as it is other therapy areas, since the majority of these procedures are essential, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. GlobalData estimates that 96.7% of cardiovascular procedures performed in the US are essential procedures.

Eric Chapman, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, says: “These essential procedures include surgeries to treat peripheral aneurysms, non-aortic intra-abdominal aneurysms, aortic dissection, aortic emergencies, hemorrhagic shock, symptomatic carotid stenosis, dialysis, and traumatic injury with hemorrhage or ischemia.

“Of the 3.33% procedures that are elective, the top ten procedures accounted for 85.3% of the total volume and include endarterectomy, revision of vessels, suturing of arteries, annuloplasty, and varicose vein procedures.”

Since cardiovascular procedures cannot be postponed, hospital resources and equipment for these procedures are not able to be redeployed to support other parts of the hospital affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

Therefore, this might put a strain on hospital centers that are struggling to find ways to accommodate an influx of patients infected with the virus. Any elective cardiovascular procedures should be postponed to ensure an adequate supply of resources for essential procedures.

Chapman concludes: “Since few cardiovascular procedures will be impacted by COVID-19, GlobalData predicts procedures to return to pre-COVID-19 rates by Q4 2020, as most procedures cannot be postponed any longer.”