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Breast cancer surgery during the Covid-19 pandemic: a monocentre experience from the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute of Rome.
- Source :
-
Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR [J Exp Clin Cancer Res] 2020 Aug 27; Vol. 39 (1), pp. 171. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Aug 27. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged hard the national health systems worldwide. According to the national policy issued in March 2020 in response to the evolving Covid-19 pandemic, several hospitals were re-configured as Covid-19 centers and elective surgery procedures were rescheduled according to the most recent recommendations. In addition, Covid-19 protected cancer hubs were established, including the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute of Rome, Central Italy. At our Institute, the Breast Surgery Department continued working under the sign of a multidisciplinary approach. The number of professional figures involved in case evaluation was reduced to a minimum and interactions took place in the full respect of the required safety measures. Treatments for benign disease, pure prophylactic surgery and elective reconstructive procedures were all postponed and priority was assigned to the histologically-proven malignant breast tumors and highly suspicious lesions. From March 15th though April 30th 2020, we treated a total of 79 patients. This number is fully consistent with the average quantitative standards reached by our Department under ordinary circumstances. Patients were mostly discharged the day after surgery and none was readmitted due to surgery-related late complications. More generally, post-operative complications rates were unexpectedly low, particularly in light of the relatively high number of reconstructive procedures performed in this emergency situation. A strict follow up was performed based on the close contact with the surgical staff by telephone, messaging apps and telemedicine.Patients ascertainment for their Covid-19 status prior to hospital admission and hospital discharge allowed to maintain the "no-Covid-19" status at our Institution. In addition, during the aforementioned time window, none of the care providers developed SARS-CoV-2 infection or disease, as shown by the results of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin M and G profiling. In conclusions, elective breast cancer surgery procedures were successfully performed in a lockdown situation due to a novel viral pandemic. The well-coordinated regional and hospital efforts in terms of medical resource re-allocation and definition of clinical priorities allowed to maintain high quality standards of breast cancer care while ensuring safety to the cancer patients and care providers involved.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Breast Neoplasms pathology
Breast Neoplasms virology
COVID-19
Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast pathology
Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast virology
Carcinoma, Lobular pathology
Carcinoma, Lobular virology
Coronavirus Infections epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections transmission
Coronavirus Infections virology
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Italy epidemiology
Middle Aged
Pneumonia, Viral epidemiology
Pneumonia, Viral transmission
Pneumonia, Viral virology
Prognosis
Receptor, ErbB-2 metabolism
Receptors, Estrogen metabolism
Receptors, Progesterone metabolism
SARS-CoV-2
Betacoronavirus isolation & purification
Breast Neoplasms surgery
Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast surgery
Carcinoma, Lobular surgery
Coronavirus Infections prevention & control
Mastectomy statistics & numerical data
Pandemics prevention & control
Pneumonia, Viral prevention & control
Practice Patterns, Physicians' standards
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1756-9966
- Volume :
- 39
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 32854728
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13046-020-01683-y