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Updated: Jul 2, 2025
Lung CT Segmentation to Identify Consolidations and Ground Glass Areas for Quantitative Assesment of SARS-CoV Pneumonia
Published on: December 19, 2020
Comparison of Computed Tomography Findings between Adult and Pediatric COVID-19 Patients
Yeliz Dadalı1, Sercan Özkaçmaz2, Erdal Ünlü3
1Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahi Evran University, Kirsehir, Turkey.
Insights
Adults with COVID-19 pneumonia show more widespread lung involvement on CT scans than children. Pediatric COVID-19 patients often present with unilateral disease and different parenchymal findings compared to adults.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pneumonia affects both adults and children.
- Chest computed tomography (CT) is crucial for diagnosing and assessing COVID-19 pneumonia.
- Understanding age-specific CT findings is important for accurate diagnosis and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare chest CT findings in adult and pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia.
- To identify age-related differences in the patterns and extent of lung involvement.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective study of 30 pediatric and 30 adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia.
- Analysis of chest CT scans for patterns of lung involvement.
- Statistical comparison of CT findings between adult and pediatric groups using a z-test.
Main Results:
- Adults exhibited significantly higher rates of bilateral lung involvement, involvement across all five lobes, and central/peripheral distribution compared to pediatric patients.
- Pediatric patients more frequently showed unilateral involvement and solitary lobe involvement.
- Ground-glass opacities were the most common finding in both groups; however, adults also frequently showed consolidation, while pediatric patients presented with halo signs and nodules more often.
Conclusions:
- Chest CT findings in pediatric COVID-19 pneumonia differ significantly from those in adults.
- Radiological patterns in children are typically less severe and more varied than in adults.
- Awareness of these age-specific CT findings is essential for accurate interpretation in pediatric COVID-19 cases.
Purpose:
This study aims to compare chest computed tomography (CT) findings between adult and pediatric patients with coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pneumonia.
Materials And Methods:
This study included 30 pediatric patients aged 1 to 17 years and 30 adult patients over 18 years of age with COVID-19 pneumonia confirmed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) who have findings related to COVID-19 on Chest Computed Tomography. The CT findings of adult and pediatric patients were compared with a z-test.
Results:
Bilateral involvement (p:0.00056), involvement in all five lobes (p<0.00001), and central and peripheral involvement (p:0.01928) were significantly higher in the adult group compared to the pediatric group. In the pediatric group, the frequency of unilateral involvement (p:0.00056), involvement of solitary lobe (p:0.00132), and peripheral involvement (p: 0.01928) were significantly higher than in the adult group. The most common parenchymal finding in adults and pediatric patients was ground-glass opacities (100% and 83%, respectively). Among the parenchymal findings in adults, ground-glass opacities with consolidation (63%) were the second most common finding, followed by air bronchogram (60%) in adults, while in pediatric patients, halo sign (27%) and nodule (27%) were the second most common, followed by the ground-glass opacities with consolidation (23%).
Conclusion:
The CT findings of pediatric COVID-19 patients must be well-known as the course of the disease is usually less severe, and the radiological findings are uncertain when compared with adults.
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