COVID-19 in the endoscopy unit: How likely is transmission of infection? Results from an international, multicenter study

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients

Patients characteristics
Male/female	678 (59.7)/457 (40.3)
Age (mean ± SD), yr	63.4 ± 14.5
Inpatient	506 (44.6)
Outpatient	598 (52.7)
Referral	31 (2.7)
Recruitment per center
"Attikon" Hospital, Athens, Greece	236 (20.8)
Aretaieio Hospital, Athens, Greece	42 (3.7)
Foggia, Italy	215 (18.9)
Verona, Italy	235 (20.7)
Belgrade, Serbia	19 (1.7)
Brussels, Belgium	143 (12.6)
Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia	149 (13.1)
Zagreb/Rijeka, Croatia	96 (8.5)
Type of endoscopy1
Upper GI-endoscopies	587 (46.3)
Colonoscopies/rectosigmoidoscopies	444 (35.1)
ERCP	178 (14.1)
EUS	57 (4.5)

Data are n (%) unless noted otherwise.

¹A total of 1266 endoscopies. ERCP: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography; EUS: Endoscopic ultrasonography; GI: Gastrointestinal; SD: Standard deviation.

Table 2 Baseline characteristics and outcomes of patients positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 after endoscopy

Case	Patient, age	Endoscopy	Date of endoscopy	COVID PCR test before endoscopy	Contact of suspected or confirmed COVID 19 case after endoscopy	Symptoms	COVID PCR test after endoscopy	Outcome of those hospitalized	Case related to endoscopy
1	Female, 66 yr	Upper GI	March 12, 2020	No	No	Fever and cough	Tested positive March 18, 2020	Death/deceased due to COVID-19	Cannot reasonably exclude
2	Male, 81 yr	Upper GI	April 8, 2020	No	No	Fever, cough and sore throat since April 17 for 42 d	Hospital admission April 12, 2020, tested positive and had Pneumonia	Death May 4/deceased due to COVID-19	Cannot reasonably exclude
3	Male, 66 yr, head/neck cancer and arterial disease	Upper GI	March 18, 2020	No	Yes with suspected case	Fever and Diarrhea since March 27, 2020	Tested positive March 28, 2020	Death May 7 due to cancer	Cannot reasonably exclude
4	Male, 55 yr, cancer esophagus	Upper GI	March 18, 2020	No	Yes with suspected case	Cough since March 16, 2020	Tested positive March 24, 2020	Discharge	No
5	Male, 76 yr, cancer stomach, 2, COPD	EUS	March 24, 2020	No	Yes with suspected case	Cough since March 19, 2020	Tested positive Apirl 23, 2020	Became negative/remained at nursing home	No
6	Female, 66 yr, AML	Lower GI	Apirl 1, 2020	Yes March 30, 2020negative	Yes with suspected case	Fever since April 3, 2020 for 6 d	Tested positive Apirl 10, 2020	Death May 4 due to cancer/at home	Cannot reasonably exclude
7	Male, 48 yr	Upper GI	March 27, 2020	No	No	Fever and cough since April 8, 2020 for 4 d	Tested positive Apirl 12, 2020	Not hospitalized	No
8	Male, 63 yr, diabetes, lung disease, IBD	Upper GI	March 30, 2020	No	Yes with suspected case	Fever and cough since April 22, 2020 for 2 d	Tested positive Apirl 22, 2020	Not hospitalized	No

AML: Acute myeloid leukemia; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; COPD; EUS: Endoscopic ultrasonography; GI: Gastrointestinal; IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease; PCR: Polymerase chain reaction.