Evaluation of chest CT findings in 50 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients treated in Turkey

Abstract

Abstract Objectives

The objective of this study was to evaluate chest CT outcomes during the treatment of 50 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients treated in Turkey who presented with symptoms such as fever, cough, and dyspnea, and to analyze these results in line with the current literature.

Methods

Patients' demographic data such as age and gender, symptoms on admission, contact history, comorbidities, and PCR and CT outcomes were recorded and analyzed. In CT examinations, laterality, the presence of consolidation and/or ground-glass opacities (GGO), and central and/or peripheral distribution were analyzed. In addition, segmental analysis was performed with CT results.

Results

In CT scans, involvement was found at the right lung in 10 (20%) patients and left lung in 1 (2%) patient, whereas bilateral involvement was found in 39 (78%) patients. Peripheral distribution was found in 18 (36%) patients and central + peripheral distribution in 28 (56%) patients. Density of the lesions was GGO in 44 (88%), whereas consolidation + GGO was found in 6 (12%) patients. The mean number of involved segments was 6.92 +/- 6.74 (min-max: 1-20). There was a significant correlation between the involvement of the R3 segment and fever (r = 0.288; p = 0.042).

Conclusions

Typical COVID-19 patterns on chest CT were GGO, bilateral involvement, peripheral, and central + peripheral distribution. Our results indicate that chest CT may be helpful in diagnosing the disease and monitoring its progression. However, since clinical pictures of COVID-19 may differ, CT outcomes should be carefully interpreted.