Correlations between chest-CT and laboratory parameters in SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia: A single-center study from Italy.

ABSTRACT: To investigate the relationship between damaged lung assessed by chest computed tomography (CT) scan and laboratory biochemical parameters with the aim of finding other diagnostic tools.Patients who underwent chest CT for suspected Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia at the emergency department admission in the first phase of COVID-19 epidemic in Italy were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with both negative chest CT and absence of the novel coronavirus in nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) swabs were excluded from the study. A total of 462 patients with positive CT scans for interstitial pneumonia were included in the study (250 males and 212 females, mean age 57 ±â€Š17 years, range 18-89). Of these, 344 were positive to RT-PCR test, 118 were negative to double RT-PCR tests.CTs were analyzed for quantification of affected lung volume visually and by dedicated software. Statistical analysis to evaluate the relationship between laboratory analyses and CT patterns and amount of damaged lung related with COVID-19 pneumonia was performed in 2 groups of patients: positive RT-PCR COVID-19 group and negative RT-PCR COVID-19 group, but both with positive CT scans for interstitial pneumonia.Lymphocytopenia, C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), d-dimer, and fibrinogen increased levels occurred in most patients without statistically significant differences between the 2 groups with CT scans suggestive for COVID-19. In fact, in both groups the volume of lung damage was strongly associated with altered laboratory test results, even for patients with negative RT-PCR test.The decreased number of lymphocytes, and the increased levels of CRP, LDH, d-dimer, and fibrinogen levels are associated with SARS-CoV 2 related pneumonia. This may be useful as an additional diagnostic tool in patients with double negative RT-PCR assay and with highly suspected clinic and chest CT features for COVID-19 to isolate patients in a pandemic period.

Are there pulmonary sequelae in patients recovering from COVID-19?

It has been recently hypothesized that infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may lead to fibrotic sequelae in patients recovering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this observational study, hospitalized patients with COVID-19 had a HRCT of the chest performed to detect the extension of fibrotic abnormalities via Hounsfield Units (HU). At follow-up, the lung density significantly improved in both lungs and in each lobe of all patients, being in the normal range (- 950 to - 700 HU). This study provides preliminary evidence that hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate forms of COVID-19 are not at risk of developing pulmonary fibrosis.