Coronavirus disease 2019: initial chest CT findings

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Infectious Diseases
• Pulmonology

Background:

• Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a significant global health concern.
• Understanding the natural progression of COVID-19 on imaging is crucial for diagnosis and management.
• Chest computed tomography (CT) plays a vital role in evaluating pulmonary involvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically analyze CT findings in early and progressive stages of COVID-19.
• To identify changes in pulmonary parenchymal abnormalities during the natural course of the disease.
• To correlate CT findings with disease severity.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of initial chest CT data from 62 confirmed COVID-19 patients.
• Patients were categorized into early-stage (symptoms ≤4 days) and progressive-stage (symptoms 4-7 days) groups.
• Assessment of CT characteristics, distribution, size, and CT score of pulmonary abnormalities.

Main Results:

• Ground-glass opacity was the predominant finding (61.3%), followed by consolidation (35.5%).
• No cavitation, reticular patterns, or bronchial wall thickening were observed.
• Progressive-stage patients showed significantly higher CT scores (p=0.004) compared to early-stage patients.

Conclusions:

• Multiple peripheral ground-glass opacities with consolidations are characteristic CT findings of COVID-19.
• CT score can effectively evaluate disease severity.
• Typical CT alterations warrant consideration for COVID-19 in differential diagnosis.