Heart Surgery Outcomes During COVID Similarly Worrisome for Rich and Poor Patients

According to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the pandemic negatively influenced outcomes of cardiac surgery for people of all socioeconomic statuses. While this goes against previous data, the researchers explained that since the pandemic began, people who were able to undergo heart surgery tended to be less socioeconomically distressed than before, suggesting that more vulnerable patients had trouble gaining access to cardiac surgical care.