Subject(s)
COVID-19/prevention & control , Myocardial Ischemia/diagnostic imaging , SARS-CoV-2/pathogenicity , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , COVID-19/transmission , COVID-19/virology , Equipment Contamination/prevention & control , Fractional Flow Reserve, Myocardial , Humans , Infection Control , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control , Myocardial Ischemia/physiopathology , Myocardial Ischemia/virology , Occupational Exposure/prevention & control , Occupational Health , Predictive Value of Tests , Risk Assessment , Risk Factors , Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed/virology , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/adverse effects , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/instrumentationABSTRACT
We investigated whether the internal gantry components of our computed tomography (CT) scanner contain severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ribonucleic acid (RNA), bacterial or fungal agents. From 1 to 27 March 2020, we performed 180 examinations of patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection using a dedicated CT scanner. On 27 March 2020, this CT gantry was opened and sampled in each of the following components: (a) gantry case; (b) inward airflow filter; (c) gantry motor; (d) x-ray tube; (e) outflow fan; (f) fan grid; (g) detectors; and (h) x-ray tube filter. To detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA, samples were analysed using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To detect bacterial or fungal agents, samples have been collected using "replicate organism detection and counting" contact plates of 24 cm2, containing tryptic soy agar, and subsequently cultured. RT-PCR detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the inward airflow filter sample. RT-PCR of remaining gantry samples did not reveal the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Neither bacterial nor fungal agents grew in the agar-based growth medium after the incubation period. Our data showed that SARS-Cov-2 RNA can be found inside the CT gantry only in the inward airflow filter. All remaining CT gantry components were devoid of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.
