{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:45:57Z","timestamp":1787028357841,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,16]],"date-time":"2022-11-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1668556800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"PDI-PFE-CDI 2021, entitled Increasing the Performance of Scientific Research, Supporting Excellence in Medical Research and Innovation, PROGRES","award":["40PFE\/30.12.2021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["40PFE\/30.12.2021"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic affected the healthcare system in our country and led non-COVID patients to postpone medical visits that were not urgent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic on the trends in melanoma diagnosis and to compare the pathological characteristics of melanoma patients before and during the pandemic. The number of primary cutaneous melanomas diagnosed each month between 1 March 2019 and 29 February 2020 (pre-COVID-19) and between 1 March 2020 and 28 February 2021 (COVID-19) in the North-Western Region of Romania (Cluj and Bihor counties) was determined. The pathological characteristics of melanomas diagnosed in the two intervals were compared. The number of melanoma diagnoses substantially decreased during the pandemic, with 66 (\u221219.3%) fewer cutaneous melanomas being diagnosed in the first year of the pandemic when compared with the previous year. The tumor thickness and mitotic rate were significantly higher in cases found during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study suggests that COVID-19 has delayed diagnosis in patients with melanoma, leading to the detection of thicker melanomas that may increase morbidity and mortality. Further studies are needed to determine the consequences of this delay on outcomes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph192215129","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,17]],"date-time":"2022-11-17T03:12:20Z","timestamp":1668654740000},"page":"15129","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Melanoma Diagnosis in Romania\u2014Data from Two University Centers"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Loredana","family":"Ungureanu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, \u201cIuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Emergency County Hospital, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adina Patricia","family":"Apostu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, \u201cIuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4549-3526","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u0218tefan Cristian","family":"Vesa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology, \u201cIuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400337 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexandra Elena","family":"C\u0103\u0219eriu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, \u201cIuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4900-4427","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simona","family":"Fr\u0103\u021bil\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410068 Oradea, Romania"},{"name":"Clinical Emergency County Hospital, 410039 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9373-3670","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriela","family":"Iancu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, \u201cLucian Blaga\u201d University of Sibiu, 550169 Sibiu, Romania"},{"name":"Clinic of Dermatology, County Emergency Hospital Sibiu, 550245 Sibiu, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7531-6075","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nona","family":"Bejinariu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Santomar Oncodiagnostic Laboratory, 400350 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maximilian","family":"Munteanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, \u201cProf Dr. I. Chiricu\u021b\u0103\u201d Institute of Oncology, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simona C.","family":"\u0218enil\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, \u201cIuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Emergency County Hospital, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alina","family":"Vasilovici","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, \u201cIuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Emergency County Hospital, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2021161S","DOI":"10.5826\/dpc.11S1a161S","article-title":"Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Melanoma: A Review","volume":"11","author":"Conforti","year":"2021","journal-title":"Dermatol. 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