Evaluation of radiological findings of pediatric cases diagnosed with COVID 19 infection: a retrospective study

ABSTRACT

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of chest radiography in the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia in pediatric patients. Materials and Methods: Between 2020 and 2021, the radiological findings of pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19 by polymerase chain reaction test were evaluated retrospectively. 140 patients who had both chest X-ray and thorax tomography were included in the study. The effectiveness of chest radiography in the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia was determined. Thoracic computed tomography scans were compared in cases without pneumonia findings on chest X-ray. Results: COVID-19 pneumonia was detected in 100 of 140 thorax computed tomography scans. An increase in opacity was observed in the chest X-ray of 48 of these 100 patients (48%). Radiographs of the other 52 patients were normal. The reasons for this were low-density opacities (n=26 patients, 50%), small-sized opacities (n=16 patients, 30.7%), opacities adjacent to the diaphragm and liver (n=10 patients, 19.2%). Computed tomography showed consolidation in 36 patients (36%), and pure ground glass appearance in 64 patients (64%). An increase in opacity was observed in the chest X-ray (72.2%) of 26 of 36 patients with consolidation. In 22 (34.3%) of 64 patients with ground glass appearance, increased opacity was observed on chest X-ray. Consolidation detection rate of chest radiography was significantly higher than that of ground glass (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Low-density and small-sized opacities reduce the effectiveness of chest radiography. Although chest X-ray imaging is useful in detecting consolidations in pediatric patients, it was not sufficient to detect ground glass appearances.