The evaluation of breast biopsy results before and after the inception of COVID-19 pandemic: Single center retrospective study

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate breast biopsy procedures performed in radiology unit before and after COVID-19 pandemic initiation, and compare breast cancer diagnosis. Material and Methods: Breast biopsies performed two years before and after March 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Patient demographics, referral reason (screening/diagnostic), biopsy type and region, tumor size, BI-RADS category and pathology were evaluated. Statistical analysis was made using chi-square test, independent samples t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Among 903 biopsies, the mean age was 51 (range 15 to 88 years). Biopsy volume decreased in the early six months of the pandemic, but accelerated soon after, with numbers even more than the pre-pandemic era. Screening intention on patient referral decreased significantly in the pandemic period, where diagnostic purposes arised (p<0.05). The prominent imaging modality used for diagnosis was mammography before pandemic and ultrasonography after pandemic (p<0.05). There was no statistical difference regarding biopsy type, biopsy region, tumor size, axillary lymph node invasion and pathology results by period. Conclusion: Despite the sudden decrease of breast biopsy volume in the early pandemic, demand of screening reduced and diagnostic referrals increased dramatically afterwards . Therefore, the interruption of cancer screening programmes should be avoided to prevent cancer burden.

Keywords

• imaging guided breast biopsy
• COVID-19
• breast cancer

Project Number

KA22-271

COVID-19 pandemisi başlangıcından önce ve sonra yapılan meme biyopsilerinin değerlendirilmesi: Tek merkezli retrospektif çalışma

Abstract

Amaç: Bu çalışma ile COVID-19 pandemisi öncesi ve pandemi sırasında radyoloji biriminde yapılan meme biyopsilerini değerlendirmek ve bu dönemlerdeki meme kanseri teşhislerini karşılaştırmak amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Mart 2020 öncesi ve sonrasındaki 2 yıl boyunca yapılan meme biyopsileri retrospektif olarak incelendi. Hastaların demografi bilgileri, başvuru sebebi (tarama/tanısal), biyopsi tipi ve bölgesi, kitle boyutu, BI-RADS kategorisi ve patolojisi değerlendirildi. İstatistiksel analiz için ki-kare testi, bağımsız örneklem t-testi ve Mann-Whitney U testi kullanıldı. Bulgular: Toplam 903 biyopsi hastasında ortalama yaş 51 (15-88) bulundu. Biyopsi sayısının pandeminin erken ilk 6 ayında düşüp hemen sonrasında, pre-pandemi döneminden de fazla olmak suretiyle, yükselmeye başladığı izlendi. Pandemi döneminde tarama başvuruları ile ilişkili biyopsi sayıları anlamlı olarak düşerken tanısal başvurularla gelen biyopsi sayılarının arttığı görüldü (p<0.05). Tanısal amaçlı en sık kullanılan görüntüleme yöntemi pandemi öncesi mamografi iken pandemi sonrası ultrason olmuştur (p<0.05). Biyopsi tipi, bölgesi, kitle boyutu, aksiller lenf nodu tutulumu ve patoloji sonuçlarında dönemsel olarak anlamlı farklılık saptanmadı. Sonuçlar: Erken pandemi döneminde meme biyopsisi sayısında izlenen ani düşüşe rağmen, hemen izleyen dönemde tarama ilişkili biyopsi sayısında azalma ve tanısal başvurulara bağlı yapılan biyopsi sayısında belirgin artış saptandı. Bu sebeple, olası kanser kanser yoğunluğunun önüne geçebilmek amacıyla kanser tarama programlarının sekteye uğramaması için gerekli önlemler alınmalıdır.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• breast cancer
• imaging aided breast biopsy

Supporting Institution

Başkent Üniversitesi

Project Number

KA22-271

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