ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: There are few reports on the chest computed tomography (CT) imaging features of children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and most reports involve small sample sizes. OBJECTIVES: To systematically analyze the chest CT imaging features of children with COVID-19 and provide references for clinical practice. DATA SOURCES: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase; data published by Johns Hopkins University; and Chinese databases CNKI, Wanfang, and Chongqing Weipu. METHODS: Reports on chest CT imaging features of children with COVID-19 from January 1, 2020 to August 10, 2020, were analyzed retrospectively and a meta-analysis carried out using Stata12.0 software. RESULTS: Thirty-seven articles (1747 children) were included in this study. The heterogeneity of meta-analysis results ranged from 0% to 90.5%. The overall rate of abnormal lung CT findings was 63.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 55.8%-70.6%), with a rate of 61.0% (95% CI: 50.8%-71.2%) in China and 67.8% (95% CI: 57.1%-78.4%) in the rest of the world in the subgroup analysis. The incidence of ground-glass opacities was 39.5% (95% CI: 30.7%-48.3%), multiple lung lobe lesions was 65.1% (95% CI: 55.1%-67.9%), and bilateral lung lesions was 61.5% (95% CI: 58.8%-72.2%). Other imaging features included nodules (25.7%), patchy shadows (36.8%), halo sign (24.8%), consolidation (24.1%), air bronchogram signs (11.2%), cord-like shadows (9.7%), crazy-paving pattern (6.1%), and pleural effusion (9.1%). Two articles reported 3 cases of white lung, another reported 2 cases of pneumothorax, and another 1 case of bullae. CONCLUSIONS: The lung CT results of children with COVID-19 are usually normal or slightly atypical. The lung lesions of COVID-19 pediatric patients mostly involve both lungs or multiple lobes, and the common manifestations are patchy shadows, ground-glass opacities, consolidation, partial air bronchogram signs, nodules, and halo signs; white lung, pleural effusion, and paving stone signs are rare. Therefore, chest CT has limited value as a screening tool for children with COVID-19 and can only be used as an auxiliary assessment tool.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/diagnostic imaging , Lung/diagnostic imaging , Thorax/diagnostic imaging , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Blister/diagnostic imaging , Blister/epidemiology , Blister/virology , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/virology , Child , Child, Preschool , Data Management , Female , Humans , Incidence , Infant , Lung/pathology , Lung/virology , Male , Pleural Effusion/diagnostic imaging , Pleural Effusion/epidemiology , Pleural Effusion/virology , Pneumothorax/diagnostic imaging , Pneumothorax/epidemiology , Retrospective Studies , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , Solitary Pulmonary Nodule/diagnostic imaging , Solitary Pulmonary Nodule/epidemiology , Solitary Pulmonary Nodule/virology , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/trendsABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel infectious disease affecting the general population worldwide. A fever and cough are the common clinical presentations of COVID-19. In most of these patients, computed tomography (CT) shows bilateral peripheral ground-glass opacities. We herein report a case of hemoptysis and lung bulla in the convalescent phase of COVID-19. Based on the clinical observations, alveolar destruction was likely associated with hemoptysis and bulla formation. Therefore, we suggest the follow-up of COVID-19 patients whose clinical parameters indicate alveolar damage, even after their symptoms improve.
Subject(s)
Blister/etiology , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/pathology , Hemoptysis/etiology , Lung/pathology , Blister/diagnostic imaging , Blister/pathology , COVID-19/diagnostic imaging , Cough/virology , Fever/virology , Hemoptysis/diagnostic imaging , Hemoptysis/pathology , Humans , Lung/diagnostic imaging , Male , Middle Aged , Pulmonary Alveoli/diagnostic imaging , Pulmonary Alveoli/pathology , SARS-CoV-2 , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
This report describes a patient with COVID-19 who developed spontaneous pneumothorax and subpleural bullae during the course of the infection. Consecutive chest computed tomography images indicated that COVID-19-associated pneumonia had damaged the subpleural alveoli and distal bronchus. Coughing might have induced a sudden increase in intra-alveolar pressure, leading to the rupture of the subpleural alveoli and distal bronchus and resulting in spontaneous pneumothorax and subpleural bullae. At the 92-day follow-up, the pneumothorax and subpleural bullae had completely resolved, which indicated that these complications had self-limiting features.