text/xml
1827-675X
2101
en
Paolo Petrone
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
ACTA Otorhinolaryngologica Italica
Introduction – a nice small, smart brick: 
Text.Serial.Journal
https://www.actaitalica.it/
42
Annual congress report
2022-04-26
2022-04-06
2022-04-28
2022-04-28
S3-S4
1
Paolo Petrone
2022/04/26
S3
Directorate General, ASL BA. Lungomare Starita 1, 70132 Bari, Italy
1827-675X
S4
Introduction – a nice small, smart brick: 
https://www.actaitalica.it/article/download/2101/760
42
ACTA OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGICA ITALICA 2022;42(SUPPL.1):S3-S4




Otolaryngologists’ role in the
management of epidemic
respiratory human infectious
disease COVID-19
Introduction – a nice small,
smart brick
Il ruolo dello specialista otorinolaringoiatra
nella gestione dei pazienti affetti da COVID-19
Introduzione – un piccolo, fondamentale mattone                                   Cesare Miani
                                                                                  Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital of
                                                                                  Tolmezzo, ASUFC Udine, Udine, Italy
The current pandemic caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, responsible            E-mail: cesare.miani@asufc.sanita.fvg.it
for the syndrome known as COVID-19, has raised major issues both in clinical
evaluation and in management of a large number of patients. Multiple clinical
needs arose in a very short period, and affected many human beings who
rapidly developed critical conditions, with very serious consequences on
socio-health and with important economic implications.
Two years ago, at the beginning of May 2020, when our proposal for the
Official Report of the Italian Society of Otolaryngology (Società Italiana di
Otorinolaringoiatria e Chirurgia Cervico Facciale - SIOeChCF) was finally
approved, we were facing tough times. Media reports were very pessimistic
and, as surgeons, we were requested to reduce our activity; moreover, our
National 2020 Congress could not take place because of restrictions, and the
following 2021 Congress was presented only online.
On the other hand, we felt grateful to the National Board for having placed
their trust in us, and quite optimistic as we watched the improvement of the
COVID-19 pandemic. We previously had two separate proposals about the
topic of the pandemic, and decided to join them into one, merging the vision of
younger otolaryngologists with that of more experienced ones, coming from
two opposite geographical areas, who were facing pandemic-related issues in       Paolo Petrone
                                                                                  Directorate General, ASL BA.
different ways.                                                                   lungomare Starita 1, 70132 Bari, Italy
What we did not really expect was that, at the very end, we would still have      Tel. + 39 080 5842484
been working in the pandemic age even in the period immediately preceding         E-mail: paolo.petrone@asl.bari.it
the 2022 Congress.
The topic is therefore certainly contemporary; it is receiving numerous
important individual scientific contributions at the national and international
                                                                                  © Società Italiana di Otorinolaringoiatria
level. We tried to bring back the major evidence regarding specialized            e Chirurgia Cervico-Facciale
management of epidemic respiratory infectious diseases to the otolaryngology
field. We believe that the role of the otolaryngologist, whom we consider                        OPEN ACCESS
the most entitled specialist to act as a “sentinel” of pathologies of the upper   This is an open access article distributed in accordance with
                                                                                  the CC-BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution-Non-
airways, has not yet gained the importance it deserves. Thus, the discussion      Commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International) license. The
of this topic, in the context of the Official SIOeChCF Report, also has to        article can be used by giving appropriate credit and mentio-
                                                                                  ning the license, but only for non-commercial purposes and
be seen as a summary of the evidence in Otolaryngology. The clinical and          only in the original version. For further information: https://
treatment implications of otolaryngologic competence, management strategies       creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en




                                                                                                                                            S3
C. Miani, P. Petrone




of otolaryngologic pathologies during epidemic events of this type, and possible future scenarios of reorganization of
Italian healthcare are presented. This monographic issue is also being proposed as a historical memory of documentation,
experience, and guidelines on the COVID-19 pandemic in the current period by the SIOeChCF.
We hope that with this contribution we can highlight the peculiarities of the otolaryngologist in the field of medicine and
society as well as the strong interest in otolaryngology for the needs of healthcare personnel and patients and consolidate
the spirit of collaboration with other scientific societies that has always distinguished us.
In these dramatic last two years, we have seen and recognized the large amount of clinical and scientific effort made by
other national groups, but given the limited space in this issue, we could collaborate with only a few, with the awareness
that every contribution during the pandemic was invaluable to improve our knowledge of this pathology.
At the end, we are very grateful to all the colleagues who contributed to this work; we hope to have added a nice small and
smart brick in the clinical and scientifically relevance of our specialty that can be used by the next generations to manage
other, but undesirable, periods like this, in a more pragmatic way.

                                                                                              Cesare Miani, Paolo Petrone




S4
