Chest computed tomographic findings of patients with COVID-19-related pneumonia

In December 2019, pneumonia cases of unknown cause were announced in Wuhan, China. The causative agent of pneumonia was identified as coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the disease was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

To evaluate the usefulness of computed thoracic tomography (CT) and postero anterior (PA) thoracic radiography in patients with COVID-19.

Between March and June 2020, the patients who arrived at our hospital with suspicion of COVID-19 were retrospectively analyzed. Thorax CT findings of the 281 patients (142 females and 139 males; age range 3-91 years) with positive PCR tests were evaluated. Lesions in the lung parenchyma were examined according to their number, localization, and distribution. PA chest radiograms were classified into two groups, positive and negative for the lung parenchymal lesions.

Of the total 281 patients with PCR-positive COVID-19, CT examinations were normal in 107 (38.1%), and positive CT findings for pneumonia were found in 174 patients (61.9%). Bilateral involvement was observed in 100 (57.5%) of the 174 patients with positive CT findings, and unilateral involvement was observed in 74 (42.5%) of them. According to the localization of the lesions, peripheral subpleural distribution occurred in 160 of the 174 patients (91.9). The most common lesion was the ground glass opacities (GGO). In 77 of 281 PCR-positive patients (27.4), pulmonary lesions were found on PA chest radiograms.

The presence of bilateral posterior subpleural GGO, nodule, and consolidation in thoracic CT are significant in terms of COVID-19 pneumonia.