ABSTRACT
A COVID-19 continua a sobrecarregar os sistemas de saúde. No auge da pandemia, os serviços de hemodinâmica do mundo todo tiveram redução significativa no volume de procedimentos devido a vários motivos, incluindo redistribuição de recursos médicos, alocação dos cardiologistas intervencionistas em alas da COVID-19 e preocupações dos médicos e pacientes com a transmissão viral. Em especial, as intervenções para doença cardíaca estrutural tiveram queda importante de mais de 90% do volume. Para enfrentar esses desafios, os sistemas de saúde empregaram novas medidas de segurança e protocolos, incluindo pré-teste com reação em cadeia da polimerase para COVID-19, Equipamentos de Proteção Individuais e exigência de vacinação para garantir a segurança de pacientes e trabalhadores da saúde. Embora tais medidas tenham abordado parcialmente as questões de segurança, o diagnóstico e o tratamento da injúria miocárdica aguda permaneceram desafiadores durante a pandemia. Enquanto os mecanismos fisiopatológicos que causam injúria miocárdica não estão completamente elucidados, a maioria dos estudos sugere que a COVID-19 seja uma doença pró-inflamatória, associada a um estado de hipercoagulabilidade. Os estudos randomizados em andamento avaliam a eficácia de regimes antitrombóticos mais agressivos na COVID-19. Além disso, a apresentação de síndrome coronariana aguda junto da COVID-19 é variável, mais provavelmente atípica, tardia e está associada a altas taxas de eventos cardiovasculares adversos e óbito. É necessário implementar protocolos para agilizar diagnóstico, triagem e tratamento de pacientes com síndrome coronariana aguda, e também minimizar o risco de transmissão viral para os funcionários do hospital. A intervenção coronariana percutânea robótica oferece uma solução em potencial para as diversas questões de segurança enfrentadas pelos cardiologistas intervencionistas na era da COVID-19. Porém, ela também se apresenta com seu conjunto de limitações.
COVID-19 continues to overwhelm healthcare systems. During the peak of the pandemic, cardiac catheterization labs across the world observed a significant decrease in procedure volumes due to several reasons, including reallocation of medical resources, deployment of interventional cardiologists to the COVID-19 wards, and physician and patient concerns about viral transmission. In particular, structural heart disease interventions experienced a significant reduction in volume by more than 90%. To address these challenges, healthcare systems employed new safety measures and protocols, including COVID-19 rapid polymerase chain reaction pretesting, Personal Protective Equipment, and vaccination mandates to ensure safety of patients and healthcare workers. Although these measures partly addressed safety concerns, diagnosis and management of acute myocardial injury remained challenging throughout the pandemic. While the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to myocardial injury is not fully elucidated, most studies have suggested COVID-19 is a pro-inflammatory disease associated with a hypercoagulable state. Ongoing randomized studies are evaluating the efficacy of more aggressive antithrombic regimens in COVID-19. In addition, the presentation of acute coronary syndrome with concomitant COVID-19 infection is variable, more likely atypical, delayed, and is associated with higher rates of adverse cardiovascular events and death. It was necessary to implement protocols to expedite diagnosis, triage and management of patients with acute coronary syndrome, while minimizing the risk of viral transmission to hospital staff. Robotic percutaneous coronary intervention may offer in the future a potential solution to many of the safety concerns faced by interventional cardiologists during the COVID-19 era; however, it has its own set of limitations.
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Objective Adhesive capsulitis is an inflammatory disease of the joint capsule, clinically manifested as pain, stiffness, and dysfunction of the shoulder. We subjectively observed an increased incidence of adhesive capsulitis, and raised the hypothesis that adhesive capsulitis was more frequent in magnetic resonance imaging examinations performed during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared with examinations prior to this period. Methods Data from medical records and magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder presenting typical imaging findings of adhesive capsulitis, performed in our organization from March to June 2020, were evaluated and compared with data and imaging from the same period of the previous year. To this end, an organizational business intelligence tool called "search reports" was used, searching for the term "adhesive capsulitis" in the radiological report, results were tabulated, and corresponding magnetic resonance imaging exams were analyzed. Results Our search found a total of 240 and 1,373 cases of adhesive capsulitis in the 2020 and 2019 periods, respectively. The mean age of patients was 53.9 years in the 2020 group and 49.9 years in 2019 (p<0.001). Magnetic resonance imaging findings were positive for adhesive capsulitis in 40 out of 240 shoulders (16.7%) in the 2020 group versus 127 out of 1,373 shoulders (9.2%) in the 2019 group. This difference was statistically significant (p=0.001). Conclusion Our study findings suggest a relative increase in the proportion of magnetic resonance imaging findings suggestive of adhesive capsulitis cases during COVID-19 pandemics based on data from our organization.