VIDEO: ACC Guidance on the cardiovascular impact of COVID-19
Ty Gluckman, MD, MHA, medical director, Center for Cardiovascular Analytics, Research, and Data Science (CARDS) at Providence St. Joseph Health in Portland, Oregon, explains the main points of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) expert consensus on the cardiovascular consequences stemming from a COVID-19 infection. Gluckman was the co-chair of the expert consensus decision pathway that can be used for the evaluation and management of adults with cardiovascular consequences from a COVID-19 infection. This includes cardiac issues by long-COVID.
These ACC guidelines were designed to help clinicians learn how to manage COVID patients with cardiovascular involvement during both the acute infection and long-COVID. The post-acute phase symptoms are referred to in the document by the official clinical designation of long-COVID as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC).
The writing committee has proposed two terms to better understand potential etiologies for those with cardiovascular symptoms:
• PASC-CVD, or PASC-Cardiovascular Disease, refers to a broad group of cardiovascular conditions (including myocarditis) that manifest at least four weeks after COVID-19 infection.
• PASC-CVS, or PASC-Cardiovascular Syndrome, includes a wide range of cardiovascular symptoms without objective evidence of cardiovascular disease following standard diagnostic testing.
The clinical guidance “2022 ACC Expert Consensus Decision Pathway on Cardiovascular Sequelae of COVID-19: Myocarditis, Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (PASC) and Return to Play” was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in March.
Read more about the document in the article ACC consensus explains what cardiologists should look for in long COVID-19.
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