Surgeon Q&A: Is Heart Surgery Considered "Elective" During Coronavirus Outbreak?

During the COVID-19 outbreak, surgical procedures that are considered "elective" are no longer being performed to ensure that resources (ventilators, personal protective equipment, beds) are re-allocated to patients struggling from the coronavirus. In this video, Dr. Marc Gillinov, the Chief of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, addresses the criteria that hospitals are using to evaluate whether-or-not heart surgery operations proceed given the risk to the patient and the symptomatic nature of the disease. Dr. Marc Gillinov is a heart valve specialist who has treated many patients in the HeartValveSurgery.com community. Specifically, Dr. Gillinov has a unique focus on robotic mitral valve surgery for patients with mitral regurgitation using the Da Vinci Surgical Robot. (Video posted on April 6, 2020)