Enough time has now passed since the COVID-19 pandemic began that researchers are starting to learn more and more about how, exactly, it affected cardiovascular care.

The American College of Cardiology has announced that its 2021 annual meeting, ACC.21, will now be entirely virtual. The meeting is still scheduled for May 15-17, 2021.

“Importantly, the pattern of damage to the heart was variable, suggesting that the heart is at risk of different types of injury,” one researcher said. 

Overall, researchers found that ivabradine was a “safe and effective” POTS treatment associated with making significant improvements to patient heart rates and quality of life.

According to the new recommendation, patients with advanced cardiovascular disease are at an especially high risk of COVID-related complications and need to be vaccinated as quickly as possible. 

Some COVID-driven changes will likely remain in place for years to come, according to a presentation at CV Summit Virtual 2021.

A team of Mount Sinai specialists published the study, emphasizing the potential of these technologies to improve patient care in a significant way.

“To our knowledge, this is the first report of prosthetic aortic valve thrombosis associated with COVID-19 infection,” the authors wrote.