Cancer screening in the COVID-19 pandemic, Development of early diagnostic strategies

Aim: Early diagnosis is very important in some cancers such as breast, cervical and colorectal. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted cancer screening programmers in many countries. In this study, it is aimed to contribute to the literature on this subject by reviewing the status of local cancer screenings during the pandemic period.Methods:This retrospective study includes the 114.727 people in the risky group for cancer screening determined in Bolu, Turkey as two groups. During 2017-2019 years was determined as pre-pandemic group while the year of 2020 was the pandemic group. Data about patients' results of smear / HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and mammography had analyzed and compared with chi-square test.Results: For all of the screening strategies, smear / HPV, FOBT and mammography, mean of screening cases, positive cases and biopsies had significantly decreased (p<0.05), but there was no statistically difference for mean of definitive diagnoses about all of these cancers even if it has been decreased between two groups.Conclusion: The results of our study show that cancer screening processes are significantly disrupted during the pandemic period. Therefore, it is important to develop new screening strategies for the uninterrupted execution of cancer screening programs, especially during pandemic periods. However, we believe in the necessity of supporting studies with larger patient groups.

EVALUATING LABORATORY PARAMETERS OF COVID-19 CASES WITH UNDERLYING CHRONIC DISEASES

Objective: COVID-19 infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 which was initially detected in China during the last days of 2019 has spread to the whole world in a short period of time causing a pandemic with devastating results. In performing this study, we aimed to reveal the differences in laboratory findings of COVID-19 cases accompanied by chronic diseases compared to the cases without any pre-existing medical condition. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study and consists of 226 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who applied to health institutions in Bolu, Turkey between 11.03.2020 and 26.05.2020. Results: The mean age of the patients included in the study was 61.95±16.82 (min:32-max:93), 126 (55.8%) of the patients were women and 100 (44.2%) were men. Seventy-five (33.2%) had at least one chronic disease. The most prevalent comorbid diseases in our patients were found to be hypertension (15.9%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (14.6%) and diabetes mellitus (9.7%). Findings such as leukocytosis, basophilia and neutrophilia, elevated CRP, elevated D-DIMER and elevated LDH, which are relatively common in COVID-19 cases, were more extensive in cases accompanied by underlying diseases. Conclusion: Impaired laboratory findings of COVID-19 patients with concomitant chronic diseases are more severe than the group without additional disease. We recommend that there can be more studies in which all parameters that may affect the results are evaluated. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Amaç: 2019 yılının son günlerinde ilk olarak Çin’de tespit edilen SARS-CoV-2 (Yeni Tip Coronavirüs) virüsünün sebep olduğu COVID-19 enfeksiyonu kısa bir zaman diliminde, bütün dünyaya yayılarak yıkıcı sonuçlara sebep veren pandemiye yol açmıştır. Bu çalışma ile kronik hastalığı olan COVID-19 vakalarının eşlik eden herhangi bir hastalığı olmayan vakalara kıyasla laboratuvar bulgularındaki farklılıkları ortaya koymayı amaçladık. Gereç ve Yöntem: Bu çalışma kesitsel tipte retrospektif özellikte olup 11.03.2020 ve 26.05.2020 tarihleri arasında Bolu’daki sağlık kurumlarına başvurup COVID-19 tanısı almış 226 hastadan oluşmaktadır. Bulgular: Çalışmaya dahil edilen 226 hastanın yaş ortalamasının 61,95±16,82 olduğu (min:32-mak:93);126’sı (%55,8) kadın, 100’ü (%44,2) erkek hasta olup, 75 (%33,2)’inin kronik bir hastalığının olduğu saptanmıştır. Hastalarımızda en sık görülen komorbid hastalıkların hipertansiyon (%15,9), kronik obstrüktif akciğer hastalığı (%14,6) ve diabetes mellitus (%9,7) olduğu görüldü. COVID-19 vakalarında sık olarak rastlanan lökositoz, nötrofili ve bazofilinin;ayrıca CRP, LDH ve D-DÍMER yüksekliğinin, komorbid hastalığı olan vakalarda olmayanlara göre daha yaygın olduğu saptanmıştır. Sonuç: Eşlik eden kronik hastalıkları olan COVID-19 hastalarına ait bozulmuş laboratuvar bulguları ek hastalığı olmayan gruba göre daha ciddi seyretmektedir. Sonuçları etkileyebilecek tüm parametrelerin değerlendirildiği yeni çalışmalara ihtiyaç vardır. (Turkish) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Istanbul Tip Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Istanbul Tip Fakultesi Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)