Pre-procedural antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 in the routine endoscopic practice.

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Infectious Diseases
• Epidemiology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated evaluating safety protocols for endoscopic procedures.
• Understanding SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence is crucial for patient and healthcare worker safety.
• Screening questionnaires (SQ) and serologic testing are potential tools for risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among patients undergoing endoscopic procedures.
• To assess the utility of pre-procedural SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing compared to screening questionnaires.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective multicenter cohort study analyzed endoscopic procedures performed between April 27 and June 15, 2020.
• Patients completed a screening questionnaire (SQ) pre-procedure and 14 days post-procedure.
• Serologic SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing was conducted 48 hours before the procedure.

Main Results:

• Two hundred and eleven patients were included in the study.
• No patients reported a positive SQ at any time point.
• A low seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was observed, with only 1.9% of patients testing positive.

Conclusions:

• The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in this cohort undergoing endoscopy was low.
• Pre-procedural SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing provided no additional benefit over clinical SQ in identifying active COVID-19 patients.