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Updated: Nov 6, 2025
Lung CT Segmentation to Identify Consolidations and Ground Glass Areas for Quantitative Assesment of SARS-CoV Pneumonia
Published on: December 19, 2020
Chest computed tomography imaging features in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Hoda Salah Darwish1, Mohamed Yasser Habash2, Waleed Yasser Habash3
1Assistant Professor of Radio-diagnosis, Radiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Egypt.
Insights
Computed tomography (CT) scans reveal that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia typically presents with bilateral lung opacities, often favoring the right lower lobe. Ground glass opacity progresses to consolidation as the disease evolves.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Pulmonology
Background:
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a significant global health concern.
- Understanding the imaging features of COVID-19 pneumonia is crucial for diagnosis and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the computed tomography (CT) features of symptomatic patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
- To describe the evolution of CT findings from early to late stages of the disease.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of CT scans from 95 symptomatic patients with confirmed COVID-19.
- Evaluation of CT findings, including lesion distribution, density, and progression over time.
Main Results:
- Bilateral lung involvement was observed in 84.2% of patients, with a predilection for the right lower lobe.
- Ground glass opacity (GGO) was the predominant early finding, often progressing to or coexisting with consolidation.
- Pleural effusion and mediastinal lymphadenopathy were noted in a subset of patients.
Conclusions:
- COVID-19 pneumonia on CT typically shows bilateral, peripheral opacities, predominantly in the right lower lobe.
- The characteristic CT pattern involves diffuse GGO progressing to consolidation within weeks.
- Ground glass opacity is the most frequent lesion across all disease phases, with consolidation increasing in the intermediate and late stages.
Objective:
To analyze computed tomography (CT) features of symptomatic patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Methods:
Ninety-five symptomatic patients with COVID-19 confirmed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction from 1 May to 14 July 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. Follow-up CT findings and their distributions were analyzed and compared from symptom onset to late-stage disease.
Results:
Among all patients, 15.8% had unilateral lung disease and 84.2% had bilateral disease with slight right lower lobe predilection (47.4%). Regarding lesion density, 49.4% of patients had pure ground glass opacity (GGO) and 50.5% had GGO with consolidation. Typical early-stage patterns were bilateral lesions in 73.6% of patients, diffuse lesions (41.0%), and GGO (65.2%). Pleural effusion occurred in 13.6% and mediastinal lymphadenopathy in 11.5%. During intermediate-stage disease, 47.4% of patients showed GGO as the disease progressed; however, consolidation was the predominant finding (52.6%).
Conclusion:
COVID-19 pneumonia manifested on lung CT scans with bilateral, peripheral, and right lower lobe predominance and was characterized by diffuse bilateral GGO progressing to or coexisting with consolidation within 1 to 3 weeks. The most frequent CT lesion in the early, intermediate, and late phases was GGO. Consolidation appeared in the intermediate phase and gradually increased, ending with reticular and lung fibrosis-like patterns.
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