Availability of magnetic resonance imaging during the COVID-19 pandemic at the Children’s disease clinic in Zagreb

The study analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the availability of MRI services for pediatric patients in five diagnostic groups according to ICD-10 that were most prevalent in the pediatric diagnostics of the Children’s Disease Clinic in Zagreb from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021.There were no statistically significant differences regarding the age of patients ordered for MRI scans in the most frequent diagnostic groups between the pre-pandemic years (2018, 2019) and the pandemic years (2020, 2021) at the clinic’s outpatient and inpatient departments. Likewise, no statistically significant differences were found in the average waiting time, which was 17 weeks, for patients referred for MRIs in the pre-pandemic (2018, 2019) and pandemic (2020, 2021) years.The negative trend of decreasing the number of scans can be linked to longer intervals between individual scans, as a result of the applicable epidemiological guidelines, as well as concerns from parents about infection, who voluntarily postponed elective check-ups, as well as due to their own or their child’s positive PCR test for coronavirus.In the case of an increase in the number of scans, it can be attributed to a higher number of patients referred from other institutions for MRI scans, especially oncology patients.