- Turkish Journal of Clinics and Laboratory
- Vol: 14 Issue: 1
- The evaluation of breast biopsy results before and after the inception of COVID-19 pandemic: Single ...
The evaluation of breast biopsy results before and after the inception of COVID-19 pandemic: Single center retrospective study
Authors : Funda Ulu Öztürk, Şehnaz Tezcan
Pages : 12-17
Doi:10.18663/tjcl.1242259
View : 13 | Download : 6
Publication Date : 2023-03-23
Article Type : Research
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 : COVID-19, breast cancer, imaging aided breast biopsy