Spectrum of Typical and Atypical Pulmonary CT Imaging Findings of COVID-19 Infection: A Retrospective Study.

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It was declared a public health emergency by WHO in January 2020. The definitive diagnostic test for COVID-19 is a real time polymerase chain reaction test (RT-PCR) which is highly specific, but sensitivity is variable. COVID-19 typically presents clinically with respiratory and systemic symptoms. The majority of the infected patients are asymptomatic during the course of the disease, which we have not included in our study. Imaging findings on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) chest are important to diagnose the disease in early stage, for treatment planning and to predict the patient prognosis. The purpose of our study was to characterize typical and atypical pulmonary and extra-pulmonary HRCT findings in patients with COVID-19 infection and to help in the management of patients.  In this retrospective study, we have included 70 patients who had undergone HRCT examination of the chest in the Radiodiagnosis Department, Maharishi Markandeshwar Medical College, Kumarhatti, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. The HRCT findings of the chest of these patients in the study will be evaluated and data will be statistically analyzed.