ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic imposed an unimaginable challenge to the healthcare systems worldwide. This online survey captured the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nuclear medicine services in Germany comparing 2020 to 2019. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A web-based questionnaire was developed to record the 2020 numbers of nuclear medicine procedures and, in particular, the change compared with 2019. The changes in nuclear medicine diagnostics and therapy were queried, as well as the extent to which "Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2" recommendations provided by the DGN were implemented. RESULTS: 91 complete responses were recorded and evaluated. This corresponds to about 20â% of all German nuclear medicine facilities. Nuclear medicine diagnostic tests showed a decrease in scintigraphies for thyroid (15.9â%), bone (8.8â%), lung (7.6â%), sentinel lymph nodes (5.5â%), and myocardium (1.4â%) with small increases in PET/CT examinations (1.2â%) compared with 2019. Among nuclear medicine therapies, reductions were highest for benign indications (benign thyroid 13.3â%, RSO 7.7â%), while changes from 2019 were less pronounced for malignant indications (PRRT: +â2.2â%, PSMA: +â7.4â%, SIRT: -5.9â%, and RJT for thyroid carcinoma -2.4â%). The DGN recommendations for action were fully or partially applied in 90â%. CONCLUSIONS: The initial significant reduction in nuclear medicine procedures in the first three weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic did not continue, but there was no compensation of the previously not performed services. The decrease in diagnostics and therapy procedures of benign diseases was particularly severe.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , Facilities and Services Utilization/statistics & numerical data , Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Germany , Humans , Radiography/methods , Radiography/statistics & numerical data , Radionuclide Imaging/methods , Radionuclide Imaging/statistics & numerical data , Radiotherapy/methods , Radiotherapy/standards , Surveys and QuestionnairesSubject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/therapy , Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital/organization & administration , Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital/trends , Nuclear Medicine/organization & administration , Nuclear Medicine/trends , Personnel Staffing and Scheduling , Disaster Planning , Global Health , Hospital Departments/statistics & numerical data , Hospital Units/organization & administration , Humans , Infection Control/methods , Occupational Diseases/prevention & control , Occupational Exposure , Outpatients , Pandemics , Spain/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The current outbreak of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has reached multiple countries worldwide. While the number of newly diagnosed cases and fatalities is rising quickly, far-reaching measures were enacted to prevent further spread. Diagnosis relies on clinical presentation, exposure history, PCR using specimens from the respiratory tract together with computed tomography (CT) imaging. One of the hallmarks of a critical course of COVID-19 is the development of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). As management of COVID-19 can be considered a multi-disciplinary approach involving various medical specialties, we here review the first 18F-FDG-PET/CT scans of COVID-19 to discuss how Nuclear Medicine could contribute to management of this disease.