Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. Oct 16, 2020; 12(10): 401-403
Published online Oct 16, 2020. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v12.i10.401
Real-world clinical data of endoscopy-based cancer detection during the emergency declaration for COVID-19 in Japan
Shuntaro Yoshida, Toshihiro Nishizawa, Osamu Toyoshima
Shuntaro Yoshida, Toshihiro Nishizawa, Osamu Toyoshima, Department of Gastroenterology, Toyoshima Endoscopy Clinic, Tokyo 157-0066, Japan
Toshihiro Nishizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, International University of Health and Welfare, Narita Hospital, Chiba 2868520, Japan
Author contributions: Yoshida S contributed to data curation and writing original draft; Nishizawa T contributed to writing - review & editing; Toyoshima O contributed to conceptualization, formal analysis, and methodology.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors disclose no conflicts.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Osamu Toyoshima, MD, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, Toyoshima Endoscopy Clinic, 6-17-5 Seijo, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 157-0066, Japan. t@ichou.com
Received: July 26, 2020
Peer-review started: July 26, 2020
First decision: August 9, 2020
Revised: August 11, 2020
Accepted: October 5, 2020
Article in press: October 5, 2020
Published online: October 16, 2020
Abstract

The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is widespread throughout the world, causing serious damage to healthcare systems. Therefore, we examined the significance of endoscopy based on the recommendation of Asian-Pacific Society for Digestive Endoscopy and Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society during the COVID-19 pandemic by evaluating the details of gastrointestinal endoscopy performed during the declaration of emergency in Japan. We have continued performing gastrointestinal endoscopy at an outpatient clinic that specialized in endoscopic medical care in Tokyo, Japan. During the emergency declaration period, 544 patients underwent gastrointestinal endoscopy. As a control, we investigated 1327 patients who underwent gastrointestinal endoscopy during the same period in 2019. Although the total number of endoscopies during the emergency declaration was halved, the advanced cancer detection rate during the emergency declaration was significantly higher than that in 2019 (P = 0.04). Additionally, no COVID-19 infection was observed in healthcare workers, staff, or patients during this period. It is possible that an outpatient endoscopy units can contribute to the detection of advanced cancer, while the hospital in charge for patients with COVID-19 infection could not perform endoscopy during the declaration of emergency.

Keywords: COVID-19, Pandemics, Gastrointestinal, Endoscopy, Neoplasms, Personal protective equipment

Core Tip: It is possible that an outpatient endoscopy units can contribute to the detection of advanced cancer, while the hospital in charge for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection could not perform endoscopy during the declaration of emergency. Gastrointestinal endoscopy may be one of the safety nets in the COVID-19 pandemic to not delay the diagnosis of advanced, life-threatening cancers.