TY - JOUR T1 - The professional and personal impact of the coronavirus pandemic on US neurointerventional practices: a nationwide survey JF - Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery JO - J NeuroIntervent Surg SP - 927 LP - 931 DO - 10.1136/neurintsurg-2020-016513 VL - 12 IS - 10 AU - Kyle M Fargen AU - Thabele M Leslie-Mazwi AU - Richard P Klucznik AU - Stacey Q Wolfe AU - Patrick Brown AU - Sameer A Ansari AU - Guilherme Dabus AU - Alejandro M Spiotta AU - Maxim Mokin AU - Ameer E Hassan AU - David Liebeskind AU - Babu G Welch AU - Adnan H Siddiqui AU - Joshua A Hirsch Y1 - 2020/10/01 UR - http://jnis.bmj.com/content/12/10/927.abstract N2 - Background Little is currently known about the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on neurointerventional (NI) procedural volumes or its toll on physician wellness.Methods A 37-question online survey was designed and distributed to physician members of three NI physician organizations.Results A total of 151 individual survey responses were obtained. Reduced mechanical thrombectomy procedures compared with pre-pandemic were observed with 32% reporting a greater than 50% reduction in thrombectomy volumes. In concert with most (76%) reporting at least a 25% reduction in non-mechanical thrombectomy urgent NI procedures and a nearly unanimous (96%) cessation of non-urgent elective cases, 68% of physicians reported dramatic reductions (>50%) in overall NI procedural volume compared with pre-pandemic. Increased door-to-puncture times were reported by 79%. COVID-19-positive infections occurred in 1% of physician respondents: an additional 8% quarantined for suspected infection. Sixty-six percent of respondents reported increased career stress, 56% increased personal life/family stress, and 35% increased career burnout. Stress was significantly increased in physicians with COVID-positive family members (P<0.05).Conclusions This is the first study designed to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on NI physician practices, case volumes, compensation, personal/family stresses, and work-related burnout. Future studies examining these factors following the resumption of elective cases and relaxing of social distancing measures will be necessary to better understand these phenomena. ER -