Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Iron Overload Assessment by MRI in Patients with Hemoglobinopathies: The E-MIOT Network Experience.
Tomography
; 9(5): 1711-1722, 2023 09 11.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37736989
BACKGROUND: The E-MIOT (Extension-Myocardial Iron Overload in Thalassemia) project is an Italian Network assuring high-quality quantification of tissue iron overload by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on E-MIOT services. METHODS: The activity of the E-MIOT Network MRI centers in the year 2020 was compared with that of 2019. A survey evaluated whether the availability of MRI slots for patients with hemoglobinopathies was reduced and why. RESULTS: The total number of MRI scans was 656 in 2019 and 350 in 2020, with an overall decline of 46.4% (first MRI: 71.7%, follow-up MRI: 36.9%), a marked decline (86.9%) in the period March-June 2020, and a reduction in the gap between the two years in the period July-September. A new drop (41.4%) was recorded in the period October-December for two centers, due to the general reduction in the total amount of MRIs/day for sanitization procedures. In some centers, patients refused MRI scans for fear of getting COVID. Drops in the MRI services >80% were found for patients coming from a region without an active MRI site. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic had a strong negative impact on MRI multi-organ iron quantification, with a worsening in the management of patients with hemoglobinopathies.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Sobrecarga de Ferro
/
COVID-19
/
Hemoglobinopatias
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Tomography
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Itália