Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis

GW cardiologists Covid-19 respond to the Crisis

The novel coronavirus pandemic caused by COVID-19 adversely affected the health, well-being, and daily life of our community and that of the world. Historic challenges exist nationally in the delivery of care during this rapidly evolving pandemic. Members of the GW

Heart & Vascular Institute have risen to the challenge in caring for patients at the front lines, through new telemedicine visits, and by leading the national cardiovascular response to this crisis. Our faculty, fellows, and staff have been actively reviewing the rapidly changing medical knowledge around COVID-19, providing leadership to the region's physicians and incorporating best known clinical practices to patients while serving on the front lines of cardiovascular care.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, GW Director of Cardiac Cath Lab and nationally recognized interventional cardiologist, has had a prominent role in communicating complex medical issues to the public as a regular contributor to CNN during the coronavirus pandemic.

DRS. MARDI GOMBERGMAITLAND AND GURUSHER PANJRATH (CENTER PAIR), ON HOSPITAL ROUNDS.

DR. MARDI GOMBERG-MAITLAND was senior author on “Care of Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic,” published in Pulmonary Circulation on April 29, 2020.

DR. ANDREW D. CHOI, Co-Director of Cardiac CT and MRI, led the development of a new national cardiac imaging and coronavirus guidance statement for the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. The statement was published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, and endorsed by the American College of Cardiology.

GW Heart & Vascular Institute Provides Hand-held Cardiac Ultrasound to Care for COVID-19 Patients and Honduras Mission Patients

DRS. JANNET LEWIS AND JOSEPH KREPP promoted the use of a novel mobile technologybased point-of-care-ultrasound (POCUS) of the heart using the Butterfly iQ, an ultrasound probe that converts an iPhone or iPad into an echocardiogram machine. The GW Heart & Vascular Institute purchased Butterfly iQs for GW cardiology faculty and fellows for bedside examination of COVID-19 patients and physicians, and to help guide clinical decision making during GW's September 2019 medical mission to Honduras.