ABSTRACT
COVID-19 outbreak impacted on accesses in hospitals because of the fear of contagion and because of the changes in everyday hospital activity. These mechanisms in some cases caused diagnostic delays with devastating consequences on patients’ lives. The current case seems to be extremely illustrative of such condition, showing the case of a 45-year-old man who suffered a 4-months diagnostic delay of an extensive squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Because of the delay a worst prognosis will be probable, and a more aggressive surgical management has been necessary. © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA.
ABSTRACT
BaCKgrOUND: the COViD-19 pandemic caused a diagnostic delay in various conditions, including sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SShl). the aim of this study was to investigate whether during the COViD-19 emergency period patients with a diagnosis of SShl received a late diagnosis and if any delay resulted in a worse post-therapy outcome. MEthODS: a retrospective study was conducted. Patients who received a diagnosis of SShl during COViD-19 period and in the same period of the previous year were identified (control group);demographic and clinical data, values of the tonal threshold at the time of diagnosis (T0) and after therapy (t1) and the recovery rate were collected. rESUltS: Sixteen patients of group 1 (control group) and 11 of group 2 (COViD-19 period) met the inclusion criteria. Diagnosis and therapy were performed on average after 1.69 days in group 1, after 5.45 days from the onset of symptoms in group 2 (P=0.0025). after therapy, the audiometric control examination showed an average threshold recovery of 26.77 dB in group 1 and 20.53 dB in group 2 (P=0.048). in group 1, 62.5% experienced recovery of the hearing threshold while in group 2 only 36.4% (P=0.252). CONClUSiONS: Despite therapy starting time was inevitably different in analyzed groups, diagnostic delay during COViD-19 emergency period resulted in a reduced improvement in the mean tonal threshold after therapy. Our data seems to confirm the hypothesis that early diagnosis and treatment are associated with a higher probability of auditory recovery. © 2020 EDiZiONi MiNErVa MEDiCa