TY - JOUR
T1 - Recovery of cardiovascular diagnostic testing in Italy 1 year after coronavirus disease-2019 outbreak compared with other countries in Europe and worldwide
T2 - results from the International Atomic Energy Agency INCAPS COVID 2 survey
AU - Pontone, Gianluca
AU - Bremner, Luca
AU - Del Torto, Alberico
AU - Albano, Domenico
AU - Baritussio, Anna
AU - Bauckneht, Matteo
AU - Cuocolo, Alberto
AU - Frantellizzi, Viviana
AU - Gatti, Marco
AU - Gimelli, Alessia
AU - Guglielmo, Marco
AU - Leccisotti, Lucia
AU - Marcassa, Claudio
AU - Russo, Vincenzo
AU - Sciagrà, Roberto
AU - Williams, Michelle C
AU - Better, Nathan
AU - Cerci, Rodrigo
AU - Choi, Andrew D
AU - Dorbala, Sharmila
AU - Hirschfeld, Cole B
AU - Karthikeyan, Ganesan
AU - Pascual, Thomas N B
AU - Shaw, Leslee J
AU - Villines, Todd C
AU - Vitola, Joao
AU - Cohen, Yosef
AU - Malkovskiy, Eli
AU - Randazzo, Michael
AU - Pynda, Yaroslav
AU - Dondi, Maurizio
AU - Einstein, Andrew J
AU - Paez, Diana
N1 - © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - AIMS: Recovery of cardiovascular diagnostic testing in Italy after the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has not been quantified. The study aims to describe cardiac diagnostic procedure volumes, centres practice and protocols, and staff members' well-being 1 year after COVID-19 outbreak in Italy.METHODS AND RESULTS: A global survey was conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency to evaluate changes in cardiac diagnostic procedure volumes in April 2021. Evaluated procedures were transoesophageal echocardiogram, coronary computed tomography angiography, coronary artery calcium scanning, nuclear medicine infection studies, invasive coronary angiography, rest and stress transthoracic echocardiogram, cardiac magnetic resonance, single-photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography, and stress electrocardiogram. Data were compared with April 2020 and March 2019. Forty-two Italian centres took part in the survey. In April 2020, there was a 72% decrease of median volumes of cardiac diagnostic procedures compared with March 2019. In April 2021, volumes of cardiac diagnostic procedures remained decreased by 3% when compared with March 2019. Stress electrocardiogram, coronary computed tomography angiography, and stress cardiac magnetic resonance volumes increased in April 2021 compared with baseline (29%, 6%, and 16%, respectively). The majority of centres had adopted physical distancing measures (93%), COVID-19 screening through questionnaires (76%), or temperature checks (93%). Twenty-five per cent of physicians at Italian responding sites reported excessive levels of psychological stress.CONCLUSION: In April 2021, volumes of cardiac diagnostic procedures at Italian responding sites were still recovering. Centres had implemented several adaptations to ensure the provision of care to their patients. Even 1 year after the pandemic, a substantial minority of Italian healthcare providers were still experiencing excessive psychological stress.
AB - AIMS: Recovery of cardiovascular diagnostic testing in Italy after the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has not been quantified. The study aims to describe cardiac diagnostic procedure volumes, centres practice and protocols, and staff members' well-being 1 year after COVID-19 outbreak in Italy.METHODS AND RESULTS: A global survey was conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency to evaluate changes in cardiac diagnostic procedure volumes in April 2021. Evaluated procedures were transoesophageal echocardiogram, coronary computed tomography angiography, coronary artery calcium scanning, nuclear medicine infection studies, invasive coronary angiography, rest and stress transthoracic echocardiogram, cardiac magnetic resonance, single-photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography, and stress electrocardiogram. Data were compared with April 2020 and March 2019. Forty-two Italian centres took part in the survey. In April 2020, there was a 72% decrease of median volumes of cardiac diagnostic procedures compared with March 2019. In April 2021, volumes of cardiac diagnostic procedures remained decreased by 3% when compared with March 2019. Stress electrocardiogram, coronary computed tomography angiography, and stress cardiac magnetic resonance volumes increased in April 2021 compared with baseline (29%, 6%, and 16%, respectively). The majority of centres had adopted physical distancing measures (93%), COVID-19 screening through questionnaires (76%), or temperature checks (93%). Twenty-five per cent of physicians at Italian responding sites reported excessive levels of psychological stress.CONCLUSION: In April 2021, volumes of cardiac diagnostic procedures at Italian responding sites were still recovering. Centres had implemented several adaptations to ensure the provision of care to their patients. Even 1 year after the pandemic, a substantial minority of Italian healthcare providers were still experiencing excessive psychological stress.
KW - cardiac diagnostic procedure volumes
KW - COVID-19
KW - recovery
KW - Italy
U2 - 10.1093/ehjimp/qyae054
DO - 10.1093/ehjimp/qyae054
M3 - Article
C2 - 39403707
SN - 2755-9637
VL - 2
JO - European heart journal. Imaging methods and practice
JF - European heart journal. Imaging methods and practice
IS - 1
M1 - qyae054
ER -