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. 2022 Jul 19;12(7):1170.
doi: 10.3390/jpm12071170.

How the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Patients' Hospital Admission and Care in the Vascular Surgery Divisions of the Southern Regions of the Italian Peninsula

Eugenio Martelli  1   2   3 , Giovanni Sotgiu  4 , Laura Saderi  4 , Massimo Federici  5 , Giuseppe Sangiorgi  6 , Matilde Zamboni  7 , Allegra R Martelli  8 , Giancarlo Accarino  9 , Giuseppe Bianco  10 , Francesco Bonanno  11 , Umberto M Bracale  12 , Enrico Cappello  13 , Giovanni Cioffi  14 , Giovanni Colacchio  15 , Adolfo Crinisio  16 , Salvatore De Vivo  14 , Carlo Patrizio Dionisi  17 , Loris Flora  18 , Giovanni Impedovo  19 , Francesco Intrieri  20 , Luca Iorio  21 , Gabriele Maritati  22 , Piero Modugno  23 , Mario Monaco  24 , Giuseppe Natalicchio  25 , Vincenzo Palazzo  26 , Fernando Petrosino  27 , Francesco Pompeo  13 , Raffaele Pulli  28 , Davide Razzano  29 , Maurizio R Ruggieri  30 , Carlo Ruotolo  31 , Paolo Sangiuolo  32 , Gennaro Vigliotti  33 , Pietro Volpe  34 , Antonella Biello  25 , Pietro Boggia  22 , Michelangelo Boschetti  10 , Enrico M Centritto  23 , Flavia Condò  12   18 , Lucia Cucciolillo  21 , Amodio S D'Amodio  14 , Mario De Laurentis  32 , Claudio Desantis  28 , Daniela Di Lella  33 , Giovanni Di Nardo  16 , Angelo Disabato  17 , Ilaria Ficarelli  31 , Angelo Gasparre  15 , Antonio N Giordano  26 , Alessandro Luongo  27 , Mafalda Massara  34 , Vincenzo Molinari  20 , Andrea Padricelli  3 , Marco Panagrosso  12 , Anna Petrone  12   33 , Serena Pisanello  19 , Roberto Prunella  19 , Michele Tedesco  30 , Alberto M Settembrini  35
Affiliations

How the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Patients' Hospital Admission and Care in the Vascular Surgery Divisions of the Southern Regions of the Italian Peninsula

Eugenio Martelli et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

Background: To investigate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on the vasculopathic population. Methods: The Divisions of Vascular Surgery of the southern Italian peninsula joined this multicenter retrospective study. Each received a 13-point questionnaire investigating the hospitalization rate of vascular patients in the first 11 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the preceding 11 months. Results: 27 out of 29 Centers were enrolled. April-December 2020 (7092 patients) vs. 2019 (9161 patients): post-EVAR surveillance, hospitalization for Rutherford category 3 peripheral arterial disease, and asymptomatic carotid stenosis revascularization significantly decreased (1484 (16.2%) vs. 1014 (14.3%), p = 0.0009; 1401 (15.29%) vs. 959 (13.52%), p = 0.0006; and 1558 (17.01%) vs. 934 (13.17%), p < 0.0001, respectively), while admissions for revascularization or major amputations for chronic limb-threatening ischemia and urgent revascularization for symptomatic carotid stenosis significantly increased (1204 (16.98%) vs. 1245 (13.59%), p < 0.0001; 355 (5.01%) vs. 358 (3.91%), p = 0.0007; and 153 (2.16%) vs. 140 (1.53%), p = 0.0009, respectively). Conclusions: The suspension of elective procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant reduction in post-EVAR surveillance, and in the hospitalization of asymptomatic carotid stenosis revascularization and Rutherford 3 peripheral arterial disease. Consequentially, we observed a significant increase in admissions for urgent revascularization for symptomatic carotid stenosis, as well as for revascularization or major amputations for chronic limb-threatening ischemia.

Keywords: COVID-19; abdominal aortic aneurysm; amputation; carotid stenosis; chronic limb-threatening ischemia; deep venous thrombosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The five regions of the southern Italian peninsula (reproduced with permission from Atlante Geografico Mondiale, Milan, Italy: Touring Club Italiano, 2021).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graphic of the main results for the COVID-19 period from April to December 2020 compared with the non-COVID-19 period from April to December 2019. CLTI, chronic limb-threatening is-chemia; R3-PAD, Rutherford category 3 peripheral arterial disease; ICA, internal carotid artery. Blue indicates elective procedures; red indicates urgent procedures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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