{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,9]],"date-time":"2026-06-09T02:02:47Z","timestamp":1780970567366,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,26]],"date-time":"2021-08-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1629936000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010716","name":"Magistrat der Stadt Wien","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["BGMWF-485569-2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BGMWF-485569-2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010716","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\"><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represent a vulnerable population potentially negatively affected by COVID-19-associated reallocation of healthcare resources. Here, we report the impact of COVID-19 on the management of HCC patients in a large tertiary care hospital.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec002\"><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of HCC patients who presented at the Vienna General Hospital, between 01\/DEC\/2019 and 30\/JUN\/2020. We compared patient care before (period 1) and after (period 2) implementation of COVID-19-associated healthcare restrictions on 16\/MAR\/2020.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec003\"><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Of 126 patients, majority was male (n = 104, 83%) with a mean age of 66\u00b111 years. Half of patients (n = 57, 45%) had impaired liver function (Child-Pugh stage B\/C) and 91 (72%) had intermediate-advanced stage HCC (BCLC B-D). New treatment, was initiated in 68 (54%) patients. Number of new HCC diagnoses did not differ between the two periods (n = 14 vs. 14). While personal visits were reduced, an increase in teleconsultation was observed (period 2). Number of patients with visit delays (n = 31 (30%) vs. n = 10 (10%); p = 0.001) and imaging delays (n = 25 (25%) vs. n = 7 (7%); p = 0.001) was higher in period 2. Accordingly, a reduced number of patients was discussed in interdisciplinary tumor boards (lowest number in April (n = 24), compared to a median number of 57 patients during period 1). Median number of elective\/non-elective admissions was not different between the periods. One patient contracted COVID-19 with lethal outcome.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec004\"><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Changes in patient care included reduced personal contacts but increased telephone visits, and delays in diagnostic procedures. The effects on long-term outcome need to be determined.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0256544","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,26]],"date-time":"2021-08-26T17:37:58Z","timestamp":1629999478000},"page":"e0256544","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on the management of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma at a tertiary care hospital"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2807-3565","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Katharina","family":"Pomej","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bernhard","family":"Scheiner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lukas","family":"Hartl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lorenz","family":"Balcar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1716-9166","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tobias","family":"Meischl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mattias","family":"Mandorfer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Reiberger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christian","family":"M\u00fcller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Trauner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthias","family":"Pinter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0256544.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1708","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2002032","article-title":"Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China.","volume":"382","author":"WJ Guan","year":"2020","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"pone.0256544.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1239","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2020.2648","article-title":"Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.","volume":"323","author":"Z Wu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Jama"},{"key":"pone.0256544.ref003","unstructured":"Timeline: the WHO\u2019s COVID-19 response. 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