Coronavirus (COVID-19)

This page contains medical information for clinicians on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19, also called 2019-nCoV, and now clinically SARS‐CoV‐2). This section includes articles that pertain to clinicians and cardiologists on the virus, new technologies being deployed to fight the virus and clinical information from various sources. Here are direct links for medical professionals to COVID-19 resources from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Daily world-wide statistics on the coronavirus outbreak are available from the WHO Situations Reports. Here is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs) for healthcare providers regarding Medicare payment for laboratory tests and other services related to the COVID-19.

Rafael Díaz,M.D., director of Estudios Clínicos Latinoamérica in Rosario, Argentina

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Prescription Omega-3 Pill Did Not Affect Outcome for Non-hospitalized Adults With COVID-19

November 19, 2021 — A high dose of a purified omega-3 fatty acid, available by prescription only, was well tolerated ...

November 19, 2021

People in the U.S. who live in socially vulnerable neighborhoods, which includes communities with higher rates of poverty, crowded living situations and/or a higher proportion of people from diverse racial and ethnic groups, had higher rates of death and cardiac events such as a heart attack or stroke when hospitalized with COVID-19, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2021. #AHA21 #AHA

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

People Hospitalized With COVID-19 From Poor Neighborhoods Had Higher Rate of Heart Events

November 17, 2021 — People in the U.S. who live in socially vulnerable neighborhoods, which includes communities with ...

November 17, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus added to cells. Image from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland. Image of the COVID-19 Virus

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Vascular Disease in COVID-19 is Not Caused by Viral Infection of Blood Vessels

November 9, 2021 — The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus does not infect blood vessels, despite the high risk of blood clots ...

November 09, 2021

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Case Study | Cardiovascular Information Systems (CVIS)

Mining Cardiology Data to Optimize Patient Care and Improve Productivity

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many cardiology departments were faced with the daunting task of supporting inpatient and ...

June 18, 2021

A Johns Hopkins Medicine study of nearly 4,500 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 suggests that statins — medications widely used to control cholesterol — are not helpful in reducing COVID-related mortality or the severity of the illness. Graphic created by M.E. Newman, Johns Hopkins Medicine

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Statins Likely Not Helpful In Reducing COVID Mortality or Severity

November 5, 2021 — In the worldwide effort to battle COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2), researchers have often turned to medications ...

November 05, 2021

Katherine Fornell, age 5, from suburban Chicago, receives her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during the first week it became available in the U.S. The FDA authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Oct. 29 for the prevention of COVID-19 in children 5 to 11 years of age. This was based on a safety review of more than 3,000 patients receiving the vaccine ages 5-11.

Feature | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

FDA Authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for Children Ages 5-11

November 5, 2021 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID ...

November 05, 2021

American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) President Randy Thompson, M.D., getting his COVID-19 vaccine when the vaccines first became available last December. Nearly a year later, some healthcare workers are still holding out and refuse to get the vaccine, which prompted CMS (Medicare) to now require COVID vaccinations for all healthcare workers at facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Feature | Coronavirus (COVID-19) | By Dave Fornell, DAIC Editor

CMS Now Requires COVID-19 Vaccinations for Healthcare Workers by January 4

November 4, 2021 — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued an emergency regulation now ...

November 04, 2021

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COVID-19 has posed challenges for physicians whose cardiac patients are at-risk and reluctant to schedule an office visit. Floyd Russak, M.D., of Russak Personalized Medicine, an internal medicine physician practicing in Greenwood Village, Colo., manages many cardiac patients who do not have ready access to a cardiologist

Feature | Wearables

Cardiac Monitoring in the Time of COVID-19: Next Generation Wearable ECG Technology Comes into Its Own

COVID-19 has posed challenges for physicians whose cardiac patients are at-risk and reluctant to schedule an office ...

December 15, 2020

T1-Based Criteria for Myocarditis on Cardiac MRI in Patients With Recent COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination: Early gadolinium enhancement (EGE) compared with precontrast SSFP sequence (not shown) is observed on early postcontrast short-axis SSFP images in (A) 16-year-old male, (B) 17-year-old male, (C) 16-year-old male, and (D) 19-year-old male, and on early postcontrast short-axis perfusion image in (E) 17-year-old male (arrow, A-E). Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) is also present (arrows) in all 5 patients (F, G

News | Cardiac Imaging

Cardiac MRI of Myocarditis After COVID-19 Vaccination in Adolescents

November 1, 2021 — According to ARRS’ American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), radiologists need to be cognizant of the ...

November 01, 2021

The Vagus Breathe ECG app for the Apple Watch is the first test to measure the exact breathing flow with an electrocardiogram (ECG) recording. It uses a 30-second breathing test for wearable device. It is being used to monitor long-COVID patients.

News | Wearables

Apple Watch Adds New Breathing Test Based on ECG Analysis

November 1, 2021 — Health AI company Vagus.co, based in Cambridge, U.K., has launched a 30-second breathing test for ...

November 01, 2021

he correlation between poor oral health and COVID-19 severity, as well as the correlation between oral health and delayed recovery, demonstrates a potential need to consider oral health an additional risk factor for cardiac patients who may contract COVID-19. The new sub-study, examining Egyptian cardiac patients, bring presented at ACC Middle East 2021. #COVID19 #SARSCOV2

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Poor Oral Health Impacts COVID severity, Especially in Cardiac Patients

October 15, 2021 — The correlation between poor oral health and COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) severity, as well as the ...

October 15, 2021

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

COVID Long-hauler Symptoms May be Caused by Antibody Attacks on ACE2

September 28, 2021 — A research team at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has identified a ...

September 28, 2021

A rise in coronavirus, COVID-19, has prompted the American Heart Association (AHA) to cancel plans for an in-person, annual meeting in November and again host a virtual meeting instead. Getty images #AHA21 #AHA

News | AHA

American Heart Association Cancels In-Person Meeting and Goes Virtual Again Due to COVID

September 20, 2021 — The American Heart Association (AHA) announced Sept. 16 it decided to convert from a planned in ...

September 20, 2021

COVID in cardiology was again a key driver of content pageviews on DAIC in August 2021. Also, a key new technology that cardiologists had a lot of interest in was the release of 3D/4D intra-cardiac echocardiography (ICE) to better guide EP and structural heart procedures without the need for transesophageal echo and its associated need for deep anesthesia.

Feature | By Dave Fornell, Editor

September 3, 2021 — Here is the list of the most popular content on the Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology (DAIC) ...

September 03, 2021

#breakingnews The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just granted full approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for people age 16 and older. It is the first vaccine to be fully approved by the FDA, and experts say it is expected to open the door for further vaccine mandates.

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Gets Full Approval from FDA

August 23, 2021 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just granted full approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 ...

August 23, 2021

The American Heart Association announced its support this week for the CDC and FDA recommendation that immuno-compromised patients should receive a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID vaccines. Getty Images #AHA #coronavirus #COVID19

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19) | By Dave Fornell, Editor

American Heart Association Supports COVID Vaccine Boosters Suggested by the CDC

August 18, 2021 — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended Friday a third dose of the ...

August 18, 2021

A lone vendor booth in a sea of open space in a corner of the expo floor at HIMSS 2021 this week. A large number of vendors decided to pull out of exhibiting at HIMSS in recent weeks because the host city of Las Vegas saw a major surge of COVID cases over July, reaching a 20.2% positivity rate on the day HIMSS began.

Blog | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

HIMSS 2021 Showed What to Expect From In-person Healthcare Conferences During the COVID Pandemic

The in-person 2021 Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) meeting planned for Aug. 9-13 appeared to ...

August 13, 2021