TY - JOUR T1 - Impact of delayed diagnoses at the time of COVID-19: increased rate of preventable bilateral blindness in giant cell arteritis JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis SP - 1658 LP - 1659 DO - 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-217915 VL - 79 IS - 12 AU - Sara Monti AU - Paolo Delvino AU - Elisa Bellis AU - Alessandra Milanesi AU - Fabio Brandolino AU - Carlomaurizio Montecucco Y1 - 2020/12/01 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/79/12/1658.abstract N2 - The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) COVID-19 has significantly challenged hospitals surge capacity and the perceived priorities for medical investigations performed to diagnose or monitor other diseases.1 2 Recent studies have reported increased mortality in out-of-hospital acute coronary syndromes, not fully explained by COVID-19 cases alone, and potentially related to the patients’ reluctance to seek medical care out of fear of the infection threat.3 4 Moreover, in the field of rheumatological disorders, general systemic symptoms, often evaluated by telephone triage, might be wrongly attributed to COVID-19, leading to delayed referral to specialist attention. The consequences of delayed diagnosis in rheumatology can be particularly evident in giant cell arteritis (GCA), leading to the most dreaded complication of the disease: irreversible visual loss. The aim of this analysis … ER -