A Multicenter Survey on the Trend of Chest CT Scan Utilization: Tracing the First Footsteps of COVID-19 in Iran.
Amir Reza RadmardAli GholamrezanezhadSeyed Ali MontazeriAmir KasaeianNemat NematollahyRoghieh Molaee LangrudiReza Javad RashidAlireza DehghanAli HekmatniaAli ShakouriradMasoud Pezeshki RadReza Nafisi MoghadamHashem SharifianAhmad EnhesariMarzieh AalinezhadGhazaleh Jamalipour SoufiAlireza ShakibafardMaryam MohammadzadehReza JalliMehrdad BakhshayeshkaramTaraneh Faghihi LangroudiMasoomeh RaoufiAlireza AbrishamiPooneh DehghanHooman Bahrami-MotlaghHassan HashemiMorteza Sanei TaheriPublished in: Archives of Iranian medicine (2020)
The observed peak in chest CT utilization in Month 3 prior to the surge in Month 6 could be explained by the seasonal influenza. However, unawareness about an emerging viral disease, i.e. COVID-19, might have underutilized chest CT in Months 4 and 5 before the official announcement in Month 6. The unbalanced increase in the workload of radiology departments in the shortage of cardiothoracic radiologists with the simultaneous decrease in income initiated a vicious cycle that worsened the economic repercussions of the pandemic.