The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and the disease it causes, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is generating a rapid and tragic health emergency in Italy due to the need to provide assistance to an overwhelming number of infected patients and, at the same time, treat all the non-deferrable oncological and benign conditions. A panel of Italian urologists has agreed on possible strategies for the reorganization of urological routine practice and on a set of recommendations that should facilitate the process of rescheduling both surgical and outpatient activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the subsequent phases. This document could be a valid tool to be used in routine clinical practice and, possibly, a cornerstone for further discussion on the topic also considering the further evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also may provide useful recommendations for national and international urological societies in a condition of emergency.
Minerva urologica e nefrologica = The Italian journal of urology and nephrology. 2020 Mar 23 [Epub ahead of print]
Vincenzo Ficarra, Giacomo Novara, Alberto Abrate, Riccardo Bartoletti, Alessandro Crestani, Cosimo De Nunzio, Gianluca Giannarini, Andrea Gregori, Giovanni Liguori, Vincenzo Mirone, Nicola Pavan, Roberto M Scarpa, Alchiede Simonato, Carlo Trombetta, Andrea Tubaro, Francesco Porpiglia, Members of the Research Urology Network (RUN)
Department of Human and Pediatric Pathology "Gaetano Barresi", Urology Section, University of Messina, Messina, Italy - ., Department of Surgery, Oncology, and Gastroenterology, Urology Clinic, University of Padua, Padua, Italy., Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, Urology Section, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy., Department of Translational Research and New Technologies, Urology Unit, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy., Urology Unit, IRCCS Venetian Oncologic Institute (IOV), Castelfranco Veneto, Treviso, Italy., Department of Urology, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Urology Unit, Academic Medical Centre" Santa Maria della Misericordia", Udine, Italy., Urology Unit, ASST Fatebenefratelli-Sacco, Sacco Hospital, Milan, Italy., Department of Urology, Cattinara Hospital, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy., Department of Urology, Federico II University of Naples, Naples, Italy., Department of Urology, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Division of Urology, Department of Oncology, School of Medicine, San Luigi Hospital, University of Turin, Orbassano, Turin, Italy.