FDG-PET/CT imaging during the Covid-19 emergency: a southern Italian perspective
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
FDG-PET/CT imaging during the Covid-19 emergency: a southern Italian perspective Simone Maurea 1 & Ciro Gabriele Mainolfi 1 & Claudia Bombace 1 & Alessandra Annunziata 1 & Ludovica Attanasio 1 & Mario Petretta 2 & Silvana Del Vecchio 1 & Alberto Cuocolo 1 Received: 13 May 2020 / Accepted: 14 June 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Purpose To assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on FDG-PET/CT work volume and to evaluate the occurrence of abnormal imaging findings suspicious or potentially diagnostic for interstitial pneumonia by Covid-19 infection in south Italy. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the number and the findings of FDG-PET/CT studies acquired between February and April 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic at the University of Napoli Federico II. The number and the findings of FDG-PET/CT studies acquired in the corresponding period of 2019 were also assessed for direct comparison. Results The number of FDG-PET/CT studies performed during the pandemic (n = 299) and in the corresponding period of 2019 (n = 335) were comparable. The percentage of abnormal FDG-PET/CT findings, suspicious for interstitial pneumonia by Covid19 infection, was significantly higher during the pandemic (9%) compared with that found in the corresponding period of 2019 (4%) (χ2 5.45, P = 0.02). No significant differences were observed in the distribution of Covid-19 reporting and data system (CORADS) classification and in the maximum standardized uptake value between the pandemic (2.6 ± 2.2) and the corresponding period of 2019 (3.2 ± 1.4). Of note, patients with abnormal imaging findings during the pandemic time had clinical data and/or laboratory tests negative for Covid-19 infection. Conclusion Despite the restrictive medical measures for the emergency, the number of FDG-PET/CT studies was unchanged during the pandemic compared with the previous year. Our findings also indicate that Covid-19 infection was contained in our series of patients from southern Italy. Keywords Covid-19 . SARS-CoV-2 . FDG-PET/CT . Imaging . Southern Italy
Introduction The recent Covid-19 emergency in Italy determined the reorganization of the healthcare system with subsequent limitations in diagnostic imaging throughput and potential clinical implications for daily medical practice [1–3]. In particular, the policy measures to limit the spread of infection have This article is part of the Topical Collection on Infection and inflammation. * Simone Maurea [email protected] 1
Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University Federico II, Naples, Italy
2
Department of Translational Medical Sciences, University Federico II, Naples, Italy
determined a decrease in the number of imaging studies requested for clinical indications different from Covid-19 disease. Moreover, hospital adjustments to improve the management of Covid-19 patients are diminishing the volume of conventional medical imaging studies. Of note, outpatient diagnostic imaging may suffer the major impact of these changes, even
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