Patterns of COVID-19 on computed tomography imaging

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Infectious Diseases
• Pulmonology

Background:

• Hong Kong's designated tertiary referral center for infectious diseases managed the initial COVID-19 cases.
• Understanding early radiological manifestations is crucial for timely diagnosis and patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the typical computed tomography (CT) findings in the earliest patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hong Kong.
• To correlate radiological patterns with confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of CT scans from 19 confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted between January 22 and February 29, 2020.
• Analysis of high-resolution or conventional thoracic CT imaging features.

Main Results:

• All patients (100%) exhibited peripheral subpleural ground-glass opacities (GGO).
• Common findings included involvement of all lobes (84.2%), focal subsegmental consolidations (73.7%), and interlobular septal thickening (63.2%).
• Absence of mediastinal lymph node enlargement, centrilobular nodules, or pleural effusion was noted in all cases.

Conclusions:

• Consistent CT findings of peripheral subpleural GGO, without zonal predominance and in the absence of specific other features, are indicative of COVID-19.
• These radiological patterns are valuable for identifying COVID-19 and assessing patients during outbreaks.