Ricerc@Sapienza

Phase 2 of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and head and neck cancer: an action plan

Defining the burden of olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 patients.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic during the first months of 2020 is causing profound changes in worldwide health care systems, resulting in a major reduction of surgical interventions and routine non-urgent outpatient diagnostic procedures. The lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, one of the most affected countries in Europe, is having severe effects on the otolaryngology medical and surgical activities.

Epistaxis is a common complaint in the general population, and its treatment is a common procedure in emergency departments. In the COVID-19 era, procedures involving airway management are a particular risk for health care workers due to the high virulence of the virus, the transmission through aerosol, and the risk of contagion from asymptomatic patients. In this article, we propose a simple memorandum of clinical recommendations to minimize the risk of operator infection deriving from epistaxis management.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Italy has been one of the most affected countries in Europe and the second for number of deaths. In this commentary, we discuss some lessons that we learned as healthcare providers working in a large public hospital during the pandemic, with a special focus on the importance of infection containment and early diagnosis, the role of swab, serological tests, home isolation and individual protection devices,  and the available therapies and management indications to better face a possible new outbreak in the near future.

Otolaryngology and head and neck surgery underwent drastic changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 10, the first day of the lockdown in Italy, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures were limited to emergency and oncology cases, while outpatient procedures and clinical examinations were temporarily suspended to limit virus diffusion and to reallocate personnel into wards dedicated to COVID-19.

The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 is having a dramatic effect on most medical disciplines. Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery is one of the most engaged disciplines, and otolaryngology specialists are facing a radical change of their role and daily activities that will have severe impact on the return to the ordinary.

Objective. The aim of this study was to provide an accurate picture of the changes which have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the contributions given by Italian Otolaryngology Units.
Methods. A 29-item questionnaire was completed and returned by 154 Otorhinolaryngology Units across Italy. This investigated their geographic distribution involvement, the main changes which occurred in workload management and in clinical and surgical activities, and the screening procedures for COVID-19 in healthcare personnel and patients.

Epidemiologic evidence from the first large-scale studies suggests that males are more se- verely affected than females by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). They present worse outcomes, require longer hospitalization time and have a higher mortality rate when compared with women. Scientists have speculated that female hormones, especially estrogen, could explain the better outcomes and the higher resistance to the virus observed in women. This higher resistance is due to the systemic and local effect of female hormones on the different cells.

There are sparse data in literature regarding conjunctivitis incidence in COVID-19 and its relationship with disease severity. The objective of this metanalysis was to assess the association between conjunctivitis and the severity of COVID-19 disease. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis with studies that included patients with severe vs non-severe form of COVID-19 infection. Severe COVID-19 infection was defined as severe pneumonia, mortality, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), use of mechanical ventilation or Intensive Care Unit (ICU) treatment.