Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Melanoma Diagnosis in Romania-Data from Two University Centers.

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the healthcare system in our country and led non-COVID patients to postpone medical visits that were not urgent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic on the trends in melanoma diagnosis and to compare the pathological characteristics of melanoma patients before and during the pandemic. The number of primary cutaneous melanomas diagnosed each month between 1 March 2019 and 29 February 2020 (pre-COVID-19) and between 1 March 2020 and 28 February 2021 (COVID-19) in the North-Western Region of Romania (Cluj and Bihor counties) was determined. The pathological characteristics of melanomas diagnosed in the two intervals were compared. The number of melanoma diagnoses substantially decreased during the pandemic, with 66 (-19.3%) fewer cutaneous melanomas being diagnosed in the first year of the pandemic when compared with the previous year. The tumor thickness and mitotic rate were significantly higher in cases found during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study suggests that COVID-19 has delayed diagnosis in patients with melanoma, leading to the detection of thicker melanomas that may increase morbidity and mortality. Further studies are needed to determine the consequences of this delay on outcomes.