Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2021; 116(3): 659-678
Position Statement on Indications and the Safe Reintroduction of Cardiovascular Imaging Methods in the COVID-19 Scenario – 2021
Adenalva Lima de Souza Beck, Silvio Henrique Barberato
, André Luiz Cerqueira de Almeida, Claudia R. Pinheiro de Castro Grau, Marly Maria Uellendahl Lopes
, Ronaldo de Souza Leão Lima, Rodrigo Júlio Cerci
, Ana Cristina Lopes Albricker, Fanilda Souto Barros, Alessandra Joslin Oliveira, Edgar Bezerra de Lira Filho, Marcelo Haertel Miglioranza
, Marcelo Luiz Campos Vieira, José Luiz Barros Pena, Tânia Mara Varejão Strabelli
, David Costa de Souza Le Bihan
, Jeane Mike Tsutsui
, Carlos Eduardo Rochitte
Cover Letter
The objective of this position statement is to inform clinicians, cardiologists, and medical imaging specialists on the recommended procedures, flows, and protocols for the duration of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic aiming at a more efficient protection of health care professionals and patients. Recommendations are based on the best available scientific evidence at the moment and on the consensus among experienced specialists. Since the first case of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brazil, many changes in recommendations and a large scientific debate regarding some of them have occurred within various sources of scientific knowledge. This is due to our currently incomplete knowledge on COVID-19, including its pathophysiological processes and aspects of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Another reason for a variability in recommendations is related to the epidemiological phase of the pandemic in each region of the country. Notably, in a country with continental dimensions such as Brazil, the pandemic can reach different transmission phases in a specific moment, thus requiring particular measures for each region and phase of the pandemic.
In the beginning of the pandemic, a phase of great attention and lack of knowledge on what the future held, the Cardiovascular Imaging Department (DIC) of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (SBC) published a brief and essential version of a position statement. The document provided rapid and practical fundamental guidance regarding safety procedures during non-invasive cardiovascular imaging procedures. This document was absolutely essential at that moment for providing the best possible protection for health care professionals. After the publication of a summary document in the initial stage of the pandemic, DIC-SBC and its specialists have deemed timely to update that position statement (now published in the form of an official scientific publication); this should include not only a much wider view of the procedures in light of the data acquired since then, but also a customized orientation for each epidemiological phase of the pandemic that could be useful for professionals working in non-invasive cardiovascular imaging for the next months or possibly years of coexisting with COVID-19.
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