Maintaining early diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in Japan: Local resilience against COVID-19.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This study evaluated the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA) practice in our region and discussed the effects of our institution's regional collaborative system, the "Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis Project," which was originally unrelated to this study's purpose. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated 150 patients with PA at Yokohama Rosai Hospital by defining three time periods: before (C0), during the first year (C1), and during the second year (C2) of the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Among the three periods (C0, C1, and C2), there were significantly less patients with stage I PA (14.0%, 0%, and 7.4%, p = 0.032) in C1, and significantly more patients with stage III PA (10.0%, 28.3%, and 9.3%, p = 0.014) in C1. The pandemic significantly prolonged the median durations from disease onset to patients' first visits (28, 49, and 14 days, p = 0.012). In contrast, there was no significant difference in the median durations from referral to first visit to our institution (4, 4, and 6 days, p = 0.391). CONCLUSIONS: The pandemic advanced the stage of PA in our region. Although the pancreatic referral network remained functional during the pandemic, there were delays from disease onset to patients' first visit to healthcare providers, including clinics. While the pandemic caused temporary damage to PA practice, the routine regional collaboration provided by our institution's project allowed for early resilience. A notable limitation is that the impact of the pandemic on PA prognosis was not evaluated.

Gastrointestinal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.

Importance: The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed medical consultations, possibly leading to the diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancer at advanced stages. Objective: To evaluate stage at diagnosis among patients with gastrointestinal cancer in Japan before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study included patients in a hospital-based cancer registry who were diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer (ie, esophageal, gastric, colorectal, pancreatic, liver, and biliary tract cancers) between January 2016 and December 2020 at 2 tertiary Japanese hospitals. Exposures: The pre-COVID-19 period was defined as January 2017 to February 2020, and the COVID-19 period was defined as March 2020 to December 2020. Main Outcome and Measure: Monthly numbers of patients with newly diagnosed cancer were aggregated, classified by stage, and compared. Results: The study evaluated 5167 patients, including 4218 patients (2825 [67.0%] men; mean [SD] age, 71.3 [10.9] years) in the pre-COVID-19 period and 949 patients (607 [64.0%] men; mean [SD] age, 71.8 [10.7] years) in the COVID-19 period. Comparing the pre-COVID-19 period with the COVID-19 period, significant decreases were observed in the mean (SD) number of patients with newly diagnosed gastric cancer (30.63 [6.62] patients/month vs 22.40 [5.85] patients/month; -26.87% change; P < .001) and colorectal cancer (41.61 [6.81] patients/month vs 36.00 [6.72] patients/month; -13.47% change; P = .03). Significant decreases were also observed in the mean (SD) number of cases of stage I gastric cancer (21.55 [5.66] cases/month vs 13.90 [5.99] cases/month; -35.51% change; P < .001), stage 0 colorectal cancer (10.58 [3.36] cases/month vs 7.10 [4.10] cases/month; -32.89% change; P = .008), and stage I colorectal cancer (10.16 [3.14] cases/month vs 6.70 [2.91] cases/month; -34.04% change; P = .003). No significant increases were observed for esophageal, gastric, pancreatic, liver, or biliary tract cancers. A significant decrease was observed in the mean (SD) number of cases per month of stage II colorectal cancer (7.42 [3.06] cases/month vs 4.80 [1.75] cases/month; -35.32% change; P = .01); a significant increase was observed for the mean (SD) number of cases per month of stage III colorectal cancer (7.18 [2.85] cases/month vs 12.10 [2.42] cases/month; 68.42% change; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of patients in a hospital-based cancer registry form Japan, significantly fewer patients were diagnosed with stage I gastric and colorectal cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the number of screening-detected cancers might have decreased, and colorectal cancer may have been diagnosed at more advanced stages.

Evaluation of a combination protocol of CT-first triage and active telemedicine methods by a selected team tackling COVID-19: An experimental research study.

BACKGROUND: Many health care workers around the world tackled with COVID-19, however sadly, the infection of many medical care workers were reported. To reduce the risk of infection, we launched selected team (Team COVID) of non-specialists and brought in active telemedicine method and computed tomography (CT)-first protocol. We describe our actual practice and the health status of medical doctors dealing with COVID-19 patients. METHODS: Between April 17, 2020 and May 24, 2020, 10 doctors worked with COVID-19 patients as part of Team COVID. The Team COVID doctors used a CT-first triage protocol for outpatients and telemedicine for inpatients and outpatients. We evaluated paired serum-specific antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 at the initial and end of the study duration and PCR results for SARS-CoV-2 at the end of the study duration. Furthermore, 36-item short-form of the Medical Outcome Study Questionnaire (SF-36) at the beginning and end of the study period were evaluated. RESULTS: Ten doctors worked as Team COVID: seven internal medicine doctors and three surgeons. During the study period, Team COVID treated 165 individuals in the outpatient clinic and isolated hospitalized patients for 315 person-days. There were no positive results of serum-specific antibody testing and PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 in Team COVID doctors. Furthermore, the SF-36 showed no deterioration in physical and mental QOL status. No in-hospital infection occurred during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: The Team COVID fulfilled the treatment using the active telemedicine and CT-first triage protocol without in hospital infection and excess stress. The combination strategy seems acceptable for both the protection and stress relief among the medical staff.

Real-world evaluation of a computed tomography-first triage strategy for suspected Coronavirus disease 2019 in outpatients in Japan: An observational cohort study.

ABSTRACT: The Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic continues to spread worldwide. Because of the absence of reliable rapid diagnostic systems, patients with symptoms of Coronavirus disease 2019 are treated as suspected of the disease. Use of computed tomography findings in Coronavirus disease 2019 are expected to be a reasonable method for triaging patients, and computed tomography-first triage strategies have been proposed. However, clinical evaluation of a computed tomography-first triage protocol is lacking.The aim of this study is to investigate the real-world efficacy and limitations of a computed tomography-first triage strategy in patients with suspected Coronavirus disease 2019.This was a single-center cohort study evaluating outpatients with fever who received medical examination at Yokohama City University Hospital, prospectively registered between 9 February and 5 May 2020. We treated according to the computed tomography-first triage protocol. The primary outcome was efficacy of the computed tomography-first triage protocol for patients with fever in an outpatient clinic. Efficacy of the computed tomography-first triage protocol for outpatients with fever was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. We conducted additional analyses of the isolation time of feverish outpatients and final diagnoses.In total, 108 consecutive outpatients with fever were examined at our hospital. Using the computed tomography-first triage protocol, 48 (44.9%) patients were classified as suspected Coronavirus disease 2019. Nine patients (18.8%) in this group were positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 using polymerase chain reaction; no patients in the group considered less likely to have Coronavirus disease 2019 tested positive for the virus. The protocol significantly shortened the duration of isolation for the not-suspected versus the suspected group (70.5 vs 1037.0 minutes, P < .001).Our computed tomography-first triage protocol was acceptable for screening patients with suspected Coronavirus disease 2019. This protocol will be helpful for appropriate triage, especially in areas where polymerase chain reaction is inadequate.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 prevalence in saliva and gastric and intestinal fluid in patients undergoing gastrointestinal endoscopy in coronavirus disease 2019 endemic areas: Prospective cross-sectional study in Japan.

OBJECTIVES: Gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) is useful for the early detection and treatment of many diseases; however, GIE is considered a high-risk procedure in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic era. This study aimed to explore the rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity in saliva and gastrointestinal fluids to which endoscopy medical staff are exposed. METHODS: The study was a single-center cross-sectional study. From June 1 to July 31, 2020, all patients who underwent GIE at Yokohama City University Hospital were registered. All patients provided 3 mL of saliva. For upper GIE, 10 mL of gastric fluid was collected through the endoscope. For lower GIE, 10 mL of intestinal fluid was collected through the endoscope. The primary outcome was the positive rate of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva and gastrointestinal fluids. We also analyzed serum-specific antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 and patients' background information. RESULTS: A total of 783 samples (560 upper GIE and 223 lower GIE samples) were analyzed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on saliva samples did not show any positive results in either upper or lower GIE samples. However, 2.0% (16/783) of gastrointestinal fluid samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. No significant differences in age, sex, purpose of endoscopy, medication, or rate of antibody test positivity were found between PCR positive and PCR negative cases. CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic patients, even those with no detectable virus in their saliva, had SARS-CoV-2 in their gastrointestinal tract. Endoscopy medical staff should be aware of infection when performing procedures. The study was registered as UMIN000040587.