Impact of COVID-19 on the volume of emergency CT studies in a neuro-trauma reference center

Abstract

Rationale and Objectives The covid-19 pandemic has been a challenge for health systems, given the large number of affected patients and mortality rates. However, it has conditioned a decrease in non-covid imaging studies. Our intention is to quantify the decrease in emergency neuroimaging studies caused by the pandemic. Materials and Methods A retrospective study was carried out on the number of CTs requested from the emergency department. The total amount of CT performed, brain-CT, and the CT studies for stroke code were quantified, week by week. The analogous weeks of 2019 and 2020, before and after the declaration of the state of alarm, were compared. Results The total amount of CTs requested from the ED during 2020 in weeks 1-12 was 1266, and decreased compared with 1745 exams during weeks 1-12 in 2019 (p value 0.045). During weeks 1-12 in 2020, 947 brain-CTs were performed, compared to 1328 in 2019 (p value 0.032). When comparing the 1-6 weeks in 2020 with those affected by the pandemic, a decrease was observed from 887 emergency CTs to 419 (p value 0.002). There was a decrease (p value 0.002) in the number of brain-CTs, from 664 in weeks 1-6, to 303 in weeks 7-12. No statistically significant differences were found in the number of stroke code studies. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a huge drop in urgent imaging studies during the state of alarm at a reference neurotrauma center, except for stroke code studies. Keywords: Covid-19; Neuroimaging; Stroke imaging; Emergency imaging; CT