The added value of chest high-resolution CT findings of Corona Virus Disease 2019 in predicting severity of disease (preprint)

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze chest thin-section high-resolution CT (HRCT) findings for 32 patients with Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and clarify the correlation between CT data and laboratory results. 30 patients presented with abnormal initial CT scans. Of 30 patients, COVID-19 showed the involvement of bilateral lungs in 24 (80%), involvement of more than two lobes in 24 (80%), ground-glass opacities without consolidation in 27 (90%), ground-glass opacities with consolidation in 23 (76.7%), opacities with irregular intralobular lines in 26 (86.7%), opacities with round morphology in 25 (83.3%), and peripheral distribution in 30 (100%). Pleural effusion or mediastinal lymphadenopathy was relatively rare manifestations. Rapidly progression of the disease demonstrated by increasing number and range of ground glass opacities and appearance of consolidations at follow-up CT images in two patients. The CT lung severity score and No. of lobes involved were negatively correlated with lymphocyte count(r=-0.363, P=0.041; r=-0.367, P=0.039, respectively). Chest HRCT of COVID-19 predominantly manifests multiple, round, ground glass opacities with irregular intralobular lines, and peripheral distribution of bilateral lungs. HRCT is a potential tool for early screening, assessing progress, and predicting disease severity of COVID-19.Authors Jie Zhou and Jie Cao contributed equally to this work and are co-first authors.