ABSTRACT
Background Complete absorption of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia in a short term was not detailedly reported. We aimed to investigate the clinical and imaging characteristics of COVID-19 patients with complete absorption of pulmonary lesions.Methods Retrospectively collected the clinical and chest CT data of 224 patients with COVID-19 in one regional medical center. Currently, pulmonary lesions in 37 patients were completely absorbed. The clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, and CT findings of lesions for these patients were summarized. Results Among the 37 patients (age, 39.0 ± 12.4 [14 - 63] years, 20 males), disease in 36 (97.3%) was mild and in 1 (3.7%) was from severe to mild. The most common symptoms were cough (24/37, 64.9%) and fever (23/37, 62.2%). Their laboratory indicators at admission were usually normal, while the white blood cell and neutrophil count significantly increased at discharge (p = 0.004, p = 0.006). On initial CT images, all patients had various pulmonary lesions (mean involved lobes:2.8 ± 1.5, range:1-5; mean involved segments: 6.6 ± 4.3, range: 1-16), which mainly manifested as multiple patchy and or spherical ground glass opacities (GGOs) (30/37, 81.1%) with fibrous strips (19/30, 63.3%) or consolidation (11/30, 36.7%). After treatment, lesions in most (33/37, 89.2%) patients were continuously absorbed. At discharge, previous lesions were mostly absorbed in 11 patients (11/37, 29.7%), the main residues were GGOs (24/37, 64.9%), followed by fibrous strips (13/37, 35.1%). On the latest CT, all the pulmonary lesions were completely absorbed, the duration of lesions was 31.6 ± 11.4 days (range: 5 - 50 days). Conclusion The pulmonary lesions in some mild COVID-19 patients (generally with normal laboratory indicators at admission, GGOs as the main manifestation on initial CT, and representation of continuous absorption after treatment) could be completely absorbed with a mean duration of 31.6 days.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Fever , Pneumonia , Lung DiseasesABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the clinical application value of chest CT quantitative pulmonary inflammation index (PII) in the evaluation of the course and treatment outcome of COVID-19 pneumonia.Methods: One hundred and eighteen patients with COVID-19 pneumonia diagnosed by RT-PCR were analyzed retrospectively. The correlation between chest CT PII, clinical symptoms and laboratory examinations during the entire hospitalization period was compared.Results: The average age of the patients was 46.0 ± 15 (range: 1-74) years. Of the 118 patients, 62 are male (52.5%) and 56 are female (47.5%). Among them, 116 patients recovered and were discharged, 2 patients died, and the median length of hospital stay was 22 (range: 9-41) days. On admission, 76.3% of the patients presented with fever, and the laboratory studies showed a decrease in lymphocyte (LYM) count and an increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, C-reactive protein(CRP) levels , and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). Within the studies’ chest CTs, the median number of involved lung lobes was 4 (range: 0-5) and the median number of involved lung segments was 9 (range 0-20). The left lower lobe and the right lower lobe were the areas most likely to be involved (89.0% and 83.9%), and 84.7% of the patients had inflammatory changes in both lungs. The main manifestations on chest CT were ground glass opacities (31.4%), ground glass opacities and consolidation (20.3%), ground glass opacities and reticular patterns (32.2%), mixed type (13.6%), and white lungs (1.7%); common accompanying signs included linear opacities (55.9%), air bronchograms (46.6%), thick small vessel shadows (36.4%), and pleural hypertrophy (13.6%). The chest CT at discharge showed complete absorption of lesions in 19 cases (16.1%), but not in the remaining 99 cases. Lesions remained in a median of 3 lung lobes (range: 0-5). Residual lesions remained in a median of 5 lung segments (range: 0-20). The residual lesions mainly presented as ground glass opacities (61.0%), and the main accompanying sign was linear opacities (59.3%). Based on chest CT, the median maximum PII of lungs was 30.0% (range: 0-97.5%), and the median PII after discharge in the patients excluding the two deaths was 12.5% (range: 0-53.0%). PII was significantly negatively correlated with the LYM count and significantly positively correlated with body temperature, LDH, CRP, and ESR. There was no significant correlation between the PII and the white blood cell count, but the grade of PII correlated well with the clinical classification.Conclusion: PII can be used to monitor the severity and the treatment outcome of COVID-19 pneumonia, provide help for clinical classification, assist in treatment plan adjustments and aid assessments for discharge.
Subject(s)
Lung Diseases , Fever , Pneumonia , Hypertrophy , COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background: Pulmonary spherical ground-glass opacities (GGOs) are commonly detected on initial chest CT scan in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).We aimed to investigate the evolution of spherical GGOs to better understand their clinical significance.Materials and Methods:A retrospective study of 33 consecutive patients with confirmed COVID-19 and pulmonary spherical GGOs was performed from January 21, 2020, to March 6, 2020. The initial and follow-up CT images and clinical data were reviewed. The initial CT manifestations of spherical GGOs and their subsequent changes were mainly evaluated. Results:A total of 101 pulmonary spherical GGOs, including 38 with and 63 without consolidation, were found in 33 patients. Of the 101 spherical GGOs, 71 (70.3%) and 30 (29.7%) showed progression and direct absorption on follow-up CT images, respectively. GGOs with consolidation were more likely to progress than those without (84.2% vs. 61.9%, p = 0.017). The 71 progressed lesions mainly showed an increase in size and/or density and most (70.4%) of them extended toward the pleura and developed from spherical to patchy. Internal consolidation appeared and increased in 18 (25.4%) and 22 (31.0%) lesions, respectively. During absorption, all the previous progressed and directly absorbed lesions exhibited a simultaneous decrease in size and density. On each patient’s final CT, more lesions with progression had a residual mixed GGO (40.8% vs. 6.7%, p = 0.002) and fewer had pure GGO (39.4% vs. 60.0%, p = 0.016) than those with direct absorption.Conclusion: In patients with COVID-19, most pulmonary spherical ground-glass opacities would progress, especially those with consolidation, and develop into patchy, subpleural lesions.