Coronavirus Diagnostics: New Chinese Study Details Chest CT Observations In Covid-19 Related Pneumonia
Source: Coronavirus Diagnostics Mar 04, 2020 4 years, 8 months, 1 week, 2 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes ago
Coronavirus Diagnostics: A new study by Chinese researchers which has been peer reviewed and published in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) details the clinical observations Covid-19 related pneumonia that is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. This would help healthcare professionals especially radiologists and pulmonologists to have a reference basis when diagnosing the disease using CT scans.
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Patient had short-term exposure history to Wuhan and onset symptoms of fever (38°C) and cough. CT was performed on day of admission. A-D, CT images show bilateral multifocal ground-glass opacities (GGO) and mixed GGO and consolidation lesions. Traction bronchiectasis (arrowhead, C) and vascular enlargement (arrow, B and D) are also present. CT involvement score is 5. Credit: American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR)
The new multi-center study (n=101) of the relationship between chest CT findings and the clinical conditions of Covid-19 coronavirus disease ascertained that most patients with Covid-19 pneumonia have ground-glass opacities (GGO) (86.1%) or mixed GGO and consolidation (64.4%) and vascular enlargement in the lesion (71.3%).
Dr Wei Zhao, Dr Zheng Zhong, and the rest of the research team also revealed that lesions present on CT images were more likely to have peripheral distribution (87.1%) and bilateral involvement (82.2%) and be lower lung predominant (54.5%) and multifocal (54.5%).
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Patient had long-term exposure history to Wuhan and onset symptoms of fever and cough. CT was performed 1 day after admission. A-D, CT images show bilateral diffuse ground-glass opacities and reticulation (arrow, C). CT involvement score is 18. Credit: American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR)
Dr Zhao, and Dr Zhong procured their 101 research cases of Covid-19 related pneumonia across four medical and research institutions in Hunan province, China-comparing clinical characteristics and imaging features between two categories - nonemergency (mild or common disease) and emergency (severe or fatal disease).
The demographics of most of the cohort (70.2%) were 21-50 years old, and most patients (78.2%) had fever as the onset symptom. Only five patients showed disease associated with a family outbreak.
Though patients in the emergency category group were older than the patients in the nonemergency category, the rate of underlying disease was not significantly different in the two groups, suggesting that viral load could be a better reflection of the severity and extent of Covid-19 pneumonia.
Dr Zhao explained to Thailand Medical News, "Architectural distortion, traction bronchiectasis, and pleural effusions, which may reflect the viral load and virulence of Covid-19, were statistically different between the two groups and could help healthcare professionals to differentiate and identify the emergency type disease."
The researchers also noted that CT involvement score can assist to evaluate the severity and extent of Covid-19 pneumonia.
Reference:
t; Wei Zhao et al, Relation Between Chest CT Findings and Clinical Conditions of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pneumonia: A Multicenter Study, American Journal of Roentgenology (2020). DOI: 10.2214/AJR.20.22976
Thailand Medical News will be featuring more articles on these new diagnostic related studies using medical imaging, PCR based nucleic acid testing, and newer antibody and ELISA that are being developed to serve as an aid and reference for clinicians and healthcare professionals around the world.
For the latest on coronavirus diagnostics, keep logging on to: https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/coronavirus
