The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Breast Imaging

Freer, Phoebe E.

Starting in Wuhan, China, followed quickly in the United States in January 2020, an outbreak of a novel coronavirus, or COVID-19 escalated to a global pandemic by March(1,2). By September 10, 2020, there were almost 28 million cases worldwide and nearly 6.4 million U.S. cases, with almost 1 million and 200,000 deaths, respectively(3). The outbreak dramatically disrupted global public health as well as precipitated upheaval to the economy and society. With no vaccine or adequate treatment, the most significant weapon to curtail its destruction was a global policy of “social distancing”, advising people to quarantine at home, closing schools and businesses, and disrupting routine health care. As the pandemic lasted, the need to re-open the economy and health care emerged with precautions placed for masking and social distancing. Significant disruptions occurred to breast imaging including deferred screening mammography, triaging diagnostic breast imaging, and changes in breast cancer care algorithms. This article summarizes the effect of the global pandemic – and efforts to curtail its spread – on both breast cancer care and on breast imaging practices including effects on patients, clinical workflow, education and research.