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Review
. 2020 Dec;18(4):226-233.
doi: 10.1007/s12574-020-00487-5. Epub 2020 Sep 5.

Review of the efforts of the Japanese Society of Echocardiography for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the initial outbreak in Japan

Yoshihiro Seo  1 , Masao Daimon  2 , Hirotsugu Yamada  3 , Nobuyuki Kagiyama  4   5 , Mitsuhiko Ohta  6 , Chisato Izumi  7 , Kazuhiro Yamamoto  8 , Satoshi Nakatani  9 ; member of the joint committee of the Education Committee, Public Relations Committee, Guidelines Committee of the Japanese Society of Echocardiography
Collaborators, Affiliations
Review

Review of the efforts of the Japanese Society of Echocardiography for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the initial outbreak in Japan

Yoshihiro Seo et al. J Echocardiogr. 2020 Dec.

Erratum in

Abstract

Under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Japanese Society of Echocardiography (JSE) has been working to protect medical staff involved in echocardiographic examinations and to prevent secondary infections caused by the examinations since mid-March 2020. This review aims to describe the footprint of the JSE's responses, focusing on the 3 months in which the initial outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic occurred in Japan. We summarized the six parts as follows: (1) the initial actions for COVID-19 of JSE, (2) JSE's actions for infection control-associated echocardiographic examinations, (3) statements from the American Society of Echocardiography during the COVID-19 pandemic and their Japanese translation by JSE, (4) making videos for explaining the practice of echocardiography during the COVID-19 pandemic, (5) attempts with the JSE members' opinions by the communication platform and surveys, and (6) efforts of final statement during the initial spread of COVID-19. We look forward that this review will help daily practices associated with echocardiography under the COVID-19 pandemic and in the future event of an unknown infectious disease pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Echocardiography; Japanese society of echocardiography; Pandemic.

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Conflict of interest statement

Yoshihiro Seo, Masao Daimon, Hirotsugu Yamada, Nobuyuki Kagiyama, Mitsuhiko Ohta, Chisato Izumi, Kazuhiro Yamamoto, and Satoshi Nakatani declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overviews of efforts of the Japanese Society of Echocardiography from March to June 2020. The graph shows the number of positive PCR tests per day in Japan. The numbers at the bottom of the graph represent dates, the circled numbers represent events, and their legends are shown at the bottom. ASE American Society of Echocardiography, JSE Japanese Society of Echocardiography, PCR polymerase chain reaction
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Algorithms for indications of examination and personal protective equipment selection. This algorithm is presented in the JSE statement version 3. PPE personal protective equipment, POCUS Point-of-care Ultrasound, TEE transesophageal echocardiography, TTE transthoracic echocardiography
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Status of performing echocardiography. The indication of TTE was suppressed in 67.2% of institutions at the first survey and 56.2% of institutions in the second survey, respectively. The indication of TEE was suppressed in 88.3% of institutions in the first survey and 89.2% of institutions in the second survey, respectively
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Cases where infection prevention measures were being taken at echocardiographic laboratory. Although infection preventive measures were generally implemented in most cases at TTE, there were institutions in which no infection preventive measures were taken. Cases with definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 was excluded
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Implementation rates of infection prevention measures for TTE at echocardiographic laboratory. Hand sanitizer and surgical masks were generally performed at both surveys. Implementation rates of these infection prevention measures were improved overall in the second survey. Cases with definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 were excluded
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Anxiety of echo staffs about the risk of nosocomial infection of COVID-19. Most responders had mild or severe anxiety about the risk of nosocomial infection of COVID-19
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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