Beneficial Effects of Remote Medical Care for Patients with Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia during the COVID-19 Pandemic
| Autor: | Eleonora Gaetani, Fabiana Agostini, Luigi Di Martino, Denis Occhipinti, Giulio Cesare Passali, Mariaconsiglia Santantonio, Giuseppe Marano, Marianna Mazza, Roberto Pola, on behalf of the Multidisciplinary Gemelli Group for HHT |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Telemedicine
medicine.medical_specialty Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epistaxis 030204 cardiovascular system & hematology Article 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Quality of life (healthcare) COVID‐19 Pandemic Medicine hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia remote consultation 030223 otorhinolaryngology Telangiectasia Remote Consultation business.industry Settore MED/09 - MEDICINA INTERNA COVID-19 General Medicine Regimen quality of life Emergency medicine telemedicine medicine.symptom business Cohort study |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Clinical Medicine, Vol 10, Iss 2311, p 2311 (2021) Journal of Clinical Medicine Volume 10 Issue 11 |
| ISSN: | 2077-0383 |
| Popis: | Background: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) needs high-quality care and multidisciplinary management. During the COVID-19 pandemic, most non-urgent clinical activities for HHT outpatients were suspended. We conducted an analytical observational cohort study to evaluate whether medical and psychological support, provided through remote consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic, could reduce the complications of HHT. Methods: A structured regimen of remote consultations, conducted by either video-calls, telephone calls, or e-mails, was provided by a multidisciplinary group of physicians to a set of patients of our HHT center. The outcomes considered were: number of emergency room visits/hospitalizations, need of blood transfusions, need of iron supplementation, worsening of epistaxis, and psychological status. Results: The study included 45 patients who received remote assistance for a total of eight months. During this period, 9 patients required emergency room visits, 6 needed blood transfusions, and 24 needed iron supplementation. This was not different from what was registered among the same 45 patients in the same period of the previous year. Remote care also resulted in better management of epistaxis and improved quality of life, with the mean epistaxis severity score and the Euro-Quality of Life-Visual Analogue Scale that were significantly better at the end than at the beginning of the study. Discussion: Remote medical care might be a valid support for HHT subjects during periods of suspended outpatient surveillance, like the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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