Table 5.
Referrals to neuro-oncology and skull base multidisciplinary teams
| Period | Pre-COVID-19 | COVID-19 | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neuro-oncology diagnosis, total (%) | 443 (100.0) | 276 (100.0) | p > 0.05 |
| New referrals | 298 (67.3) | 185 (67.0) | |
| High-grade glioma | 65 (14.7) | 33 (12.0) | |
| Low-grade glioma | 22 (5.0) | 9 (3.3) | |
| Cerebral metastasis | 80 (18.1) | 60 (21.7) | |
| Meningioma | 59 (13.3) | 37 (13.4) | |
| Other* | 72 (16.3) | 46 (16.7) | |
| Follow-up (including post-operative) | 145 (32.7) | 91 (33.0) | |
| High-grade glioma | 34 (7.7) | 26 (9.4) | |
| Low-grade glioma | 11 (2.5) | 8 (2.9) | |
| Cerebral metastasis | 41 (9.3) | 32 (11.6) | |
| Meningioma | 35 (7.9) | 17 (6.2) | |
| Other* | 24 (5.4) | 8 (2.9) | |
| Treatment recommendation | |||
| High-grade glioma, total | 99 | 59 | p > 0.05 |
| Surgery, % | 32 (32.3) | 12 (20.3) | |
| Monitoring, conservative or other, % | 67 (67.7) | 47 (79.7) | |
| Low-grade glioma, total | 33 | 17 | p > 0.05 |
| Surgery, % | 6 (18.2) | 4 (23.5) | |
| Monitoring, conservative or other, % | 27 (81.8) | 13 (76.5) | |
| Cerebral metastasis, total | 121 | 92 | p > 0.05 |
| Intervention (surgery/SRSa), % | 30 (7/23) (24.8) | 32 (6/26) (34.8) | |
| Monitoring, conservative or other, % | 91 (75.2) | 60 (65.2) | |
| Skull base diagnosis, total (%) | 329 (100.0) | 101 (100.0) | p < 0.05 |
| New referrals | 112 (34.0) | 48 (47.5) | |
| Meningioma | 25 (7.6) | 14 (13.9) | |
| Vestibular schwannoma | 17 (5.2) | 7 (6.9) | |
| Pituitary adenoma and/or apoplexy | 29 (8.8) | 14 (13.9) | |
| Chiari malformation | 11 (3.3) | 2 (2.0) | |
| Other& | 30 (9.1) | 11 (10.9) | |
| Follow-up (incl. post-operative) | 217 (66.0) | 53 (52.5) | |
| Meningioma | 68 (20.7) | 20 (19.8) | |
| Vestibular schwannoma | 56 (17.0) | 10 (9.9) | |
| Pituitary adenoma and/or apoplexy | 51 (15.5) | 17 (16.8) | |
| Chiari malformation | 3 (0.9) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Other& | 39 (11.9) | 6 (5.9) | |
| Treatment recommendation | |||
| Meningioma, total | 93 | 34 | p < 0.05 |
| Intervention (surgery/SRSa), % | 9 (5/4) (9.7) | 9 (7/2) (26.5) | |
| Interval imaging, % | 84 (90.3) | 25 (73.5) | |
| Vestibular schwannoma, total | 73 | 17 | p > 0.05 |
| Intervention (surgery/SRSa), % | 9 (6/3) (12.3) | 2 (1/1) (11.8) | |
| Interval imaging, % | 64 (87.7) | 15 (88.2) | |
| Pituitary adenoma/apoplexy, total | 80 | 31 | p > 0.05 |
| Surgery, % | 16 (20.0) | 3 (9.7) | |
| Interval imaging, % | 64 (80.0) | 28 (90.3) | |
*Ependymoma, nerve sheath tumour, haemangioblastoma, arachnoid/colloid cyst, etc.
aStereotactic radiosurgery
&Chondrosarcoma, chordoma, craniopharyngioma, etc.