Barts CardiacCOVID Study Reaches 1-year Milestone

The Cardiac COVID study run by Barts NHS Health Trust has reached its one year milestone.  Starting in March 2020 just as the first COVID lockdown began, the study is looking at how patients recover from cardiac surgery carried out during the pandemic.  This has included cardiothoracic surgery, with a number of participants having had emergency aortic dissection surgery.

Patients are being studied from one week up to one year after their surgery to find out their quality of life and any other issues around having the surgery during a pandemic.

262 patients have given feedback.  Participants who were there at the outset are now being followed up at their one year point.

Two scientific publications are already in the pipeline, with the first accepted for presentation at the 2021 Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery meeting. See our page on #SCTS2021 for more information.  A later presentation is planned for the EuroHeartCare conference in June.

Gareth Owens, Chair of Aortic Dissection Awareness UK & Ireland said “COVID-19 dominated the news in healthcare for much of 2020 and created many challenges in cardiac surgery, for healthcare professionals and their patients.  The CardiacCOVID study was set up very quickly to understand the impact on patients of having cardiac surgery during the pandemic.

“As a full partner in this research project, AD Awareness UK & Ireland is contributing strongly to the Steering Group and the PPI (Patient & Public Involvement) Group.  I and my team are delighted by the quality of the research, the number of patients enrolled in the study and what we are learning from their experience of cardiac surgery during the COVID pandemic. This will help us improve care for all cardiac surgery patients in future.  This study is an example of patient-focused research at its best.”

Professor Aung Oo, Clinical Lead for Aortovascular Surgery at Barts

Professor Julie Sanders, Chief Investigator for the study