The Influence of Face Shields on the Quality of Colonoscopy in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background/Aims@#The worldwide coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led endoscopists to use personal protective equipment (PPE) for infection prevention. This study aimed to investigate whether wearing a face shield as PPE affects the quality of colonoscopy. @*Methods@#We reviewed the medical records and colonoscopy findings of patients who underwent colonoscopies at Asan Medical Center, Korea from March 10 to May 31, 2020. The colonoscopies in this study were performed by five gastroenterology fellows and four expert endoscopists. We compared colonoscopy quality indicators, such as withdrawal time, adenoma detection rate (ADR), mean number of adenomas per colonoscopy (APC), polypectomy time, and polypectomy adverse events, both before and after face shields were added as PPE on April 13, 2020. @*Results@#Of the 1,344 colonoscopies analyzed, 715 and 629 were performed before and after the introduction of face shields, respectively. The median withdrawal time was similar between the face shield and no-face shield groups (8.72 minutes vs 8.68 minutes, p=0.816), as was the ADR (41.5% vs 39.8%, p=0.605) and APC (0.72 vs 0.77, p=0.510). Polypectomy-associated quality indicators, such as polypectomy time and polypectomy adverse events were also not different between the groups. Quality indicators were not different between the face shield and no-face shield groups of gastroenterology fellows, or of expert endoscopists. @*Conclusions@#Colonoscopy performance was not unfavorably affected by the use of a face shield. PPE, including face shields, can be recommended without a concern about colonoscopy quality deterioration.

Are there interregional differences in the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of Crohn's disease in the Asia-Pacific region?

No abstract available.

Transcatheter Closures for Fistula Tract and Paravalvular Leak after Mitral Valve Replacement and Tricuspid Annuloplasty

Paravalvular leaks (PVLs) often occur after surgical valve replacement. Surgical reoperation has been the gold standard of therapy for PVLs, but it carries a higher operative risk and an increased incidence of re-leaks compared to the initial surgery. In high surgical risk patients with appropriate geometries, transcatheter closure of PVLs could be an alternative to redo-surgery. Here, we report a case of successful staged transcatheter closures of a fistula tract between the aorta and right atrium, and mitral PVLs after mitral valve replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty.