Infection Control Practices and Outcomes of Endoscopy Units in the Lombardy Region of Italy: A Survey From the Italian Society of Digestive Endoscopy During COVID-19 Spread

The present survey from the Italian Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SIED-Societ\ue0 Italiana di Endoscopia Digestiva) was aimed at reporting infection control practice and outcomes at Digestive Endoscopy Units in a high-incidence area.Goals: The present survey from the Italian Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SIED\u2014Societ\ue0 Italiana di Endoscopia Digestiva) was aimed at reporting infection control practice and outcomes at Digestive Endoscopy Units in a high-incidence area. Background: Lombardy was the Italian region with the highest coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) prevalence, at the end of March 2020 accounting for 20% of all worldwide deaths. Joint Gastro-Intestinal societies released recommendations for Endoscopy Units to reduce the risk of the contagion. However, there are few data from high-prevalence areas on adherence to these recommendations and on their efficacy. Methods: A survey was designed by the Lombardy section of SIED to analyze (a) changes in activity and organization, (b) adherence to recommendations, (c) rate of health care professionals\u2019 (HCP) infection during the COVID-19 outbreak. Results: In total, 35/61 invited centers (57.4%) participated; most modified activities were according to recommendations and had filtering face piece 2/filtering face piece 3 and water-repellent gowns available, but few had negative-pressure rooms or provided telephonic follow-up; 15% of HCPs called in sick and 6% had confirmed COVID-19. There was a trend (P=0.07) toward different confirmed COVID-19 rates among endoscopists (7.9%), nurses (6.6%), intermediate-care technicians (3.4%), and administrative personnel (2.2%). There was no correlation between the rate of sick HCPs and COVID-19 incidence in the provinces and personal protective equipment availability and use, whereas an inverse correlation with hospital volume was found. Conclusions: Adherence to recommendations was rather good, though a minority were able to follow all recommendations. Confirmed COVID-19 seemed higher among endoscopists and nurses, suggesting that activities in the endoscopy rooms are at considerable viral spread risk

Changes in digestive cancer diagnosis during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Italy: A nationwide survey

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had a huge impact on healthcare systems, resulting in many routine diagnostic procedures either being halted or postponed. Aims: To evaluate whether the diagnoses of colorectal, gastric and pancreatic cancers have been impacted by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Italy. Methods: A survey designed to collect the number of histologically-proven diagnoses of the three cancers in gastroenterology services across Italy from January 1 to October 31 in 2017\u20132020. Non-parametric ANOVA for repeated measurements was applied to compare distributions by years and macro-areas. Results: Compared to 2019, in 2020 gastric cancer diagnoses decreased by 15.9%, CRC by 11.9% and pancreatic by 9.9%. CRC distributions showed significant differences between all years, stomach cancer between 2018 and 2020 and 2019\u20132020, and pancreatic cancer only between 2017 and 2019. The 2019\u20132020 comparison showed fewer CRC diagnoses in the North (-13.7%), Center (-16.5%) and South (-4.1%), fewer stomach cancers in the North (-19.0%) and South (-9.4%), and fewer pancreatic cancers in the North (-14.1%) and Center (-4.7%), with an increase in the South (+12.3%). Distributions of CRC and gastric cancer were significantly different between all years in the North. Conclusions: This survey highlights the concerning effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnostic yield of gastroenterology services for stomach, colorectal and pancreatic cancers in Italy