Computed Tomography of Chest in COVID-19 Infection: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by a novel coronavirus that is very contagious. Asymptomatic infection to severe and deadly sickness is all possibilities. The gold standard investigation for diagnosing coronavirus infection is Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Computed Tomography (CT) is an important imaging modality for the management of COVID-19 patients. A CT scan of the chest can also be used to check for disease sequelae. During the pandemic, several classifications and CT Scoring Systems (CT-SS) were devised to aid in triage and diagnosis. Literature search was performed in Google Scholar and PubMed databases, using these keywords and their combinations: COVID-19, CT, Ground-Glass Opacity (GGO), RT-PCR. The present review paper aims to summarise, discuss and illustrate the radiological findings of the COVID-19 as well as the current status of the CT chest in the management of the disease. CT is the best imaging method for detecting the involvement of the lungs, as well as the quickest way for determining the nature of abnormalities. CT has a vital role in the diagnosis, management, and prognostication of COVID-19 in the fight against the pandemic, as evidenced by extensive research. Understanding of the imaging characteristics of COVID-19 pneumonia, can help with early control of the disease spread, and CT severity score could be useful for clinical triage, prognosis evaluation, and follow-up.

Keywords

• coronavirus disease 2019
• computed tomography scoring systems
• ground-glass opacity
• reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction