Why the study?
The COVID-19 pandemic required reorganization of echocardiography laboratories to ensure safety, and updated recommendations were needed after vaccination programs began.
This expert opinion provides updated guidance for safely operating echocardiography laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for the impact of vaccination programs.
May guide echo safety protocols amid COVID-19; leaves open prospective validation of vaccination-adjusted recommendations.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in an urgent need to reorganize the work of echocardiography laboratories in order to ensure the safety of patients and the protection of physicians, technicians, and other staff members. In the previous Expert Opinion of the Working Group on Echocardiography of Polish Cardiac Society we provided recommendations for the echocardiographic services, in order to ensure maximum possible safety and efficiency of imagers facing epidemic threat. Now, with much better knowledge and larger experience in treating COVID-19 patients and with introduction of vaccination programs, we present updated recommendations for performing transthoracic and transesophageal examinations, including information on the potential impact of personnel and the patient vaccination program, and growing numbers of convalescents on performance of echocardiographic laboratories, with the goal of their ultimate reopening.
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Szymański et al. (2021) conducted a review in COVID-19. Updated echocardiography recommendations was evaluated. Updated expert recommendations from the Polish Cardiac Society outline safety protocols for performing echocardiography during the COVID-19 pandemic, incorporating the impact of vaccination programs.
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