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Updated: Dec 22, 2025
Lung CT Segmentation to Identify Consolidations and Ground Glass Areas for Quantitative Assesment of SARS-CoV Pneumonia
Published on: December 19, 2020
Clinical and CT imaging features between the first nucleic acid-negative and first nucleic acid-positive COVID-19
Sha Li1, Jinkang Liu2, Zeng Xiong2
1Department of Radiology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008 173322698@qq.com.
Insights
Chest CT scans are crucial for diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with negative nucleic acid tests. This imaging helps prevent missed diagnoses due to false negatives, ensuring timely patient care.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Medical Diagnostics
Background:
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents diagnostic challenges.
- Nucleic acid testing can yield false-negative results.
- Early and accurate diagnosis is critical for patient management and public health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of chest computed tomography (CT) in diagnosing COVID-19.
- To compare imaging findings in nucleic acid-negative and nucleic acid-positive COVID-19 patients.
- To determine if chest CT can aid in identifying cases missed by initial nucleic acid testing.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of clinical data and chest CT findings.
- Comparison between patients initially testing negative for COVID-19 nucleic acid and those testing positive.
- Assessment of diagnostic timelines and radiological characteristics.
Main Results:
- Nucleic acid-negative patients had a shorter onset-to-diagnosis time but a longer time to diagnosis compared to positive cases.
- No significant differences were observed in clinical data or radiological findings between the two groups.
- Chest CT revealed findings consistent with COVID-19 in patients with negative nucleic acid tests.
Conclusions:
- Chest CT plays a vital role in the diagnostic work-up of suspected COVID-19.
- Imaging can help circumvent missed diagnoses resulting from false-negative nucleic acid tests.
- Integrating chest CT into diagnostic protocols improves the detection of COVID-19 infections.
Objectives:
To investigate the role of chest CT for the diagnostic work-up for patients with suspected infection of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Methods:
The clinical data and imaging findings of the first nucleic acid-negative COVID-19 patients were analyzed and compared with the first nucleic acid-positive patients.
Results:
Compared with the first nucleic acid-positive patients, the onset time of the first nucleic acid-negative patients was shorter [(3.58±2.94) d], but the diagnosis was longer [(3.92±3.66) d]. There were no significant differences in the characteristics of the clinical data and radiological findings between the 2 groups (P>0.05).
Conclusion:
Chest CT examination is important to avoid COVID-19 missed diagnosis due to false negative nucleic acid.
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