Volume 36, Issue 5 pp. 1717-1722
Special Section: Cardiac Surgery Amid COVID 19

COVID-19: An Argentinian perspective

Federico Benetti MD

Corresponding Author

Federico Benetti MD

Benetti Foundation, Rosario, Argentina

Correspondence Federico Benetti, MD, Benetti Foundation, Alem 1846, Rosario, Zip 2000, Argentina.

Email: [email protected]

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Sergio H. Del Prete MD

Sergio H. Del Prete MD

Universidad ISALUD, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Mario Glanc MD

Mario Glanc MD

Universidad ISALUD, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Daniel Navia MD

Daniel Navia MD

Instituto Cardiovascular de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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First published: 24 January 2021

Abstract

At the time of this writing (July 6, 2020), the mortality rate reported for COVID-19 in Argentina was <2%. Also, the country's critical care beds are ≤63% occupied. This achievement results from the excellent coordination and action by the Argentine Ministry of Health together with the 23 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires of the nation for now.

Materials and Methods

Regarding cardiovascular care for patients over 65 years of age, a more accurate analysis could be performed when two comparative half-yearly periods corresponding to the years 2019 and 2020 (pandemic time) were compared. The data collected regarding this age range revealed issues that had not previously been evaluated in our country. That undoubtedly proposes a different solution for the future based on a strict scientific analysis.

Results

The ratio of patients who received stents to those that underwent coronary surgery was 6 to 1, while the ratio of patients who had off-pump surgery to those that underwent minimally invasive surgery was 69 to 1.

Conclusion

An Argentinian perspective regarding cardiovascular care is good because the country has an excellent level of qualified medical training in its cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology services, as well as healthcare infrastructure distributed throughout the country, which will undoubtedly be able to respond to the new challenges posed by the post-pandemic period.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available in INSSJP, Argentina.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.