Coronary artery bypass grafting in active or recent COVID-19 infection: a systematic review

Introduction Even though there have been few studies on coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), data on patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection show that cardiac surgery has poor outcomes in this subset. From the available studies in the literature, we conducted a systematic review with the aim of determining the outcome of COVID-19 patients who underwent CABG. Methods Between December 2019 and October 2022, searches were conducted in PubMed, the Directory of Open Access Journals, and Google Scholar to find studies reporting results of COVID-19 patients undergoing CABG. We extracted data on the clinical profile and outcomes of the patients from the eligible studies. The quality of the studies was assessed using a standardised tool. Results The total sample size across the 12 included studies was 99 patients who underwent CABG in active disease or within 30 days of COVID-19 infection. The median and interquartile range (IQR) for the length of time spent on a mechanical ventilator, stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), and the total hospital stay were 0.9 (0.47–2), 4.5 (2.5–8), and 12.5 (8.5–22.5) days respectively. Seventy-six patients developed postoperative complications, and there were eleven deaths. Conclusion The findings of the present study indicate that mortality risk goes down when the time between COVID-19 diagnosis and surgery increases. When compared to data from other high-risk urgent or emergent CABG patients around the world who were not infected with COVID-19, patients who underwent CABG in the COVID-19 subgroup had similar postoperative outcomes.