Methods
This is a retrospective study performed on patients subjected to total
laryngectomy, who were hospitalized at the University Hospital of Modena
between September 2020 and January 2021 for acute tracheitis and tested
positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Inclusion criteria were the following: patients previously subjected to
total laryngectomy; patients who underwent SARS-CoV-2 status assessment
by means of a combined nasal and tracheal swab (by reverse
transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]) and tested
positive; patients who required hospitalization; patients whose
diagnosis of tracheitis was confirmed by means of an otolaryngologist’s
evaluation, including fiberoptic tracheoscopy or tracheo-bronchoscopy;
patients whose full clinical data were available. Were excluded from the
study total laryngectomy patients requiring hospitalization, who
developed SARS-CoV-2 infection during their hospital stay (tested
negative at admission).
Patients’ demographic, clinical and surgical information were
retrospectively reviewed from clinical charts. Local Ethics Committee
approval for this retrospective study was obtained on December 2020
(576/2020/OSS/AOUMO). Written informed consent to collect deidentified
data was obtained from all patients. The study was conducted following
the CARE guidelines.