Division of Urology, Molinette Hospital-Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, Torino, Italy.
Division of Urology, Ospedale San Lazzaro, ASL-CN2 Alba-Bra, Alba, Italy.
Urologia. 2021 Feb;88(1):3-8. doi: 10.1177/0391560320946186.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically hit all Europe and Northern Italy in particular. The reallocation of medical resources has caused a sharp reduction in the activity of many medical disciplines, including urology. The restricted availability of resources is expected to cause a delay in the treatment of urological cancers and to negatively influence the clinical history of many cancer patients. In this study, we describe COVID-19 impact on uro-oncological management in Piedmont/Valle d'Aosta, estimating its future impact.
We performed an online survey in 12 urological centers, belonging to the Oncological Network of Piedmont/Valle d'Aosta, to estimate the impact of COVID-19 emergency on their practice. On this basis, we then estimated the medical working capacity needed to absorb all postponed uro-oncological procedures.
Most centers (77%) declared to be "much"/"very much" affected by COVID-19 emergency. If uro-oncological consultations for newly diagnosed cancers were often maintained, follow-up consultations were more than halved or even suspended in around two out of three centers. In-office and day-hospital procedures were generally only mildly reduced, whereas major uro-oncological procedures were more than halved or even suspended in 60% of centers. To clear waiting list backlog, the urological working capacity should dramatically increase in the next months; delays greater than 1 month are expected for more than 50% of uro-oncological procedures.
COVID-19 emergency has dramatically slowed down uro-oncological activity in Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta. Ideally, uro-oncological patients should be referred to COVID-19-free tertiary urological centers to ensure a timely management.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行对整个欧洲，尤其是意大利北部造成了巨大冲击。医疗资源的重新分配导致许多医学学科（包括泌尿科）的活动急剧减少。预计资源的有限供应将导致泌尿科癌症的治疗延迟，并对许多癌症患者的临床病史产生负面影响。在这项研究中，我们描述了 COVID-19 对皮埃蒙特/瓦莱达奥斯塔地区泌尿肿瘤学管理的影响，并估计了其未来的影响。
我们对属于皮埃蒙特/瓦莱达奥斯塔肿瘤网络的 12 个泌尿科中心进行了在线调查，以评估 COVID-19 紧急情况对其实践的影响。在此基础上，我们估计了吸收所有推迟的泌尿肿瘤学程序所需的医疗工作能力。
大多数中心（77％）宣布受到 COVID-19 紧急情况的“很大”/“非常大”影响。尽管新诊断癌症的泌尿肿瘤学咨询通常得以维持，但三分之二左右的中心的随访咨询减少了一半以上，甚至暂停了。门诊和日间医院程序通常仅轻度减少，而 60％的中心的主要泌尿肿瘤学程序减少了一半以上，甚至暂停了。为了清除待处理列表的积压，未来几个月泌尿科的工作能力应大大增加；预计超过 50％的泌尿肿瘤学程序将延迟超过 1 个月。
COVID-19 紧急情况极大地减缓了皮埃蒙特和瓦莱达奥斯塔的泌尿肿瘤学活动。理想情况下，应将泌尿肿瘤学患者转介到无 COVID-19 的三级泌尿科中心，以确保及时管理。
