HRCT chest in COVID-19 pneumonia: correlation between duration of symptoms and CT severity score | ||||
| Kasr Al Ainy Medical Journal | ||||
| Volume 26, Issue 2, December 2020 PDF (6.15 MB) | ||||
| DOI: 10.4103/kamj.kamj_32_20 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
| Hegazy M.A. Rania; Salah E.L. Din Adel Lamia | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Objective The aim was to find the correlation between duration of symptoms and computed tomography (CT) severity score in patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia. Patients and methods This study was conducted on 108 patients with proven COVID-19 pneumonia. Results A total of 108 patients were enrolled in this study with proven diagnosis of COVID-19 infection with 81 positive swabs (75%) and 27 negative swabs (25%). The 27 patients with negative swabs had typical features of fever, laboratory studies consistent with infection, and CT features of bilateral pneumonic changes. The study included 72 (66.7%) men and 36 (33.3%) women, with mean age of 52.1 (age range: 34–81 years) years. Patients were categorized according to the duration of onset of initial symptoms and the date of CT scans: stage 1 (0–4 days, =36); stage 2 (5–9 days, =30); stage 3 (10–14 days, =15); stage 4 (15–21 days, =9); stage 5 (22–28 days, =3); and stage 6 (>28 days, =15). Each stage average CT chest score of severity and average percentages of both lung opacities were shown. The authors found that CT severity score increases, as the duration of initial symptom increases, up to 9 days, from the onset of symptoms. CT score has a second peak at less than or equal to 20-day duration of symptoms and a third peak at more than 28 days, where a plateau is reached. Although patient’s clinical condition and oxygen saturation may improve, yet CT changes may persist with a high CT severity score for weeks thereafter. Conclusion CT severity score corresponds to the duration of symptoms only in the early stage of disease. In later stages, some patients develop residual lung affection after recovery from acute symptoms, yet lung changes take weeks to resolve, and in some cases, residual chronic changes may persist. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| COVID-19; computed tomography severity score; high-resolution computerized tomography; pneumonia | ||||
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