Lung base CT findings in COVID-19 adult patients presenting with acute abdominal complaints: case series from a major New York City health system.
Eur Radiol
; 30(12): 6685-6693, 2020 Dec.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-631205
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To describe demographic, clinical, and lung base CT findings in COVID-19 patients presenting with abdominal complaints.METHODS:
In this retrospective study, 76 COVID-19 patients who underwent abdominal CT for abdominal complaints from March 1 to April 15, 2020, in a large urban multihospital Health System were included. Those with positive abdominal CT findings (n = 14) were then excluded, with 62 patients undergoing final analysis (30M/32F; median age 63 years, interquartile range (IQR) 52-75 years, range 30-90 years). Demographic and clinical data were extracted. CT lung base assessment was performed by a cardiothoracic radiologist. Data were compared between discharged and hospitalised patients using Wilcoxon or Fisher's exact tests.RESULTS:
The majority of the population was non-elderly (56.4%, < 65 years) and most (81%) had underlying health conditions. Nineteen percent were discharged and 81% were hospitalised. The most frequent abdominal symptoms were pain (83.9%) and nausea/vomiting/anorexia (46.8%). Lung base CT findings included ground-glass opacities (95.2%) in a multifocal (95.2%) and peripheral (66.1%) distribution. Elevated laboratory values (when available) included C-reactive protein (CRP) (97.3%), D-dimer (79.4%), and ferritin (68.8% of males and 81.8% of females). Older age (p = 0.045), hypertension (p = 0.019), and lower haemoglobin in women (p = 0.042) were more frequent in hospitalised patients. There was no difference in lung base CT findings between discharged and hospitalised patients (p > 0.165).CONCLUSIONS:
COVID-19 patients can present with abdominal symptoms, especially in non-elderly patients with underlying health conditions. Lung base findings on abdominal CT are consistent with published reports. Radiologists should be aware of atypical presentations of COVID-19. KEY POINTS ⢠COVID-19 infected patients can present with acute abdominal symptoms, especially in non-elderly patients with underlying health conditions, and may frequently require hospitalisation (81%). ⢠There was no difference in lung base CT findings between patients who were discharged and those who were hospitalised. ⢠Lung base CT findings included multifocal and peripheral ground-glass opacities, consistent with published reports.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
/
Abdominal Pain
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Betacoronavirus
/
Lung
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Eur Radiol
Journal subject:
Radiology
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S00330-020-07040-z
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