TY - JOUR
T1 - Global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cytopathology practice
T2 - Results from an international survey of laboratories in 23 countries
AU - Vigliar, Elena
AU - Cepurnaite, Rima
AU - Alcaraz-Mateos, Eduardo
AU - Ali, Syed Z.
AU - Baloch, Zubair W.
AU - Bellevicine, Claudio
AU - Bongiovanni, Massimo
AU - Botsun, Pavlina
AU - Bruzzese, Dario
AU - Bubendorf, Lukas
AU - Büttner, Reinhard
AU - Canberk, Sule
AU - Capitanio, Arrigo
AU - Casadio, Chiara
AU - Cazacu, Eugeniu
AU - Cochand-Priollet, Beatrix
AU - D’Amuri, Alessandro
AU - Eloy, Catarina
AU - Engels, Marianne
AU - Fadda, Guido
AU - Fontanini, Gabriella
AU - Fulciniti, Franco
AU - Hofman, Paul
AU - Iaccarino, Antonino
AU - Ieni, Antonio
AU - Jiang, Xiaoyin Sara
AU - Kakudo, Kennichi
AU - Kern, Izidor
AU - Kholova, Ivana
AU - Liu, Chinhua
AU - Lobo, Anandi
AU - Lozano, Maria D.
AU - Malapelle, Umberto
AU - Maleki, Zahra
AU - Michelow, Pamela
AU - Musayev, Jamal
AU - Özgün, Gonca
AU - Oznur, Meltem
AU - Peiró Marqués, Francisca Maria
AU - Pisapia, Pasquale
AU - Poller, David
AU - Pyzlak, Michal
AU - Robinson, Betsy
AU - Rossi, Esther Diana
AU - Roy-Chowdhuri, Sinchita
AU - Saieg, Mauro
AU - Savic Prince, Spasenija
AU - Schmitt, Fernando C.
AU - Javier Seguí Iváñez, Francisco
AU - Štoos-Veić, Tajana
AU - Sulaieva, Oksana
AU - Sweeney, Brenda J.
AU - Tuccari, Giovanni
AU - van Velthuysen, Marie Louise
AU - VanderLaan, Paul A.
AU - Vielh, Philippe
AU - Viola, Patrizia
AU - Voorham, Rinus
AU - Weynand, Birgit
AU - Zeppa, Pio
AU - Faquin, William C.
AU - Pitman, Martha Bishop
AU - Troncone, Giancarlo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Cancer Society
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Background: To the authors' knowledge, the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on cytopathology practices worldwide has not been investigated formally. In the current study, data from 41 respondents from 23 countries were reported. Methods: Data regarding the activity of each cytopathology laboratory during 4 weeks of COVID-19 lockdown were collected and compared with those obtained during the corresponding period in 2019. The overall number and percentage of exfoliative and fine-needle aspiration cytology samples from each anatomic site were recorded. Differences in the malignancy and suspicious rates between the 2 periods were analyzed using a meta-analytical approach. Results: Overall, the sample volume was lower compared with 2019 (104,319 samples vs 190,225 samples), with an average volume reduction of 45.3% (range, 0.1%-98.0%). The percentage of samples from the cervicovaginal tract, thyroid, and anorectal region was significantly reduced (P <.05). Conversely, the percentage of samples from the urinary tract, serous cavities, breast, lymph nodes, respiratory tract, salivary glands, central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, liver, and biliary tract increased (P <.05). An overall increase of 5.56% (95% CI, 3.77%-7.35%) in the malignancy rate in nongynecological samples during the COVID-19 pandemic was observed. When the suspicious category was included, the overall increase was 6.95% (95% CI, 4.63%-9.27%). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a drastic reduction in the total number of cytology specimens regardless of anatomic site or specimen type. The rate of malignancy increased, reflecting the prioritization of patients with cancer who were considered to be at high risk. Prospective monitoring of the effect of delays in access to health services during the lockdown period is warranted.
AB - Background: To the authors' knowledge, the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on cytopathology practices worldwide has not been investigated formally. In the current study, data from 41 respondents from 23 countries were reported. Methods: Data regarding the activity of each cytopathology laboratory during 4 weeks of COVID-19 lockdown were collected and compared with those obtained during the corresponding period in 2019. The overall number and percentage of exfoliative and fine-needle aspiration cytology samples from each anatomic site were recorded. Differences in the malignancy and suspicious rates between the 2 periods were analyzed using a meta-analytical approach. Results: Overall, the sample volume was lower compared with 2019 (104,319 samples vs 190,225 samples), with an average volume reduction of 45.3% (range, 0.1%-98.0%). The percentage of samples from the cervicovaginal tract, thyroid, and anorectal region was significantly reduced (P <.05). Conversely, the percentage of samples from the urinary tract, serous cavities, breast, lymph nodes, respiratory tract, salivary glands, central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, liver, and biliary tract increased (P <.05). An overall increase of 5.56% (95% CI, 3.77%-7.35%) in the malignancy rate in nongynecological samples during the COVID-19 pandemic was observed. When the suspicious category was included, the overall increase was 6.95% (95% CI, 4.63%-9.27%). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a drastic reduction in the total number of cytology specimens regardless of anatomic site or specimen type. The rate of malignancy increased, reflecting the prioritization of patients with cancer who were considered to be at high risk. Prospective monitoring of the effect of delays in access to health services during the lockdown period is warranted.
KW - coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
KW - cytopathology
KW - fine-needle aspiration
KW - malignancy rate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85093915484&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85093915484&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/cncy.22373
DO - 10.1002/cncy.22373
M3 - Article
C2 - 33108683
AN - SCOPUS:85093915484
SN - 1934-662X
VL - 128
SP - 885
EP - 894
JO - Cancer Cytopathology
JF - Cancer Cytopathology
IS - 12
ER -