The Evaluation of CT Images for COVID-19 Prior to Reporting of the First Case

Abstract

Purpose: It is possible to evaluate the accuracy of the onset date of the disease with CT images with high diagnostic rates. The aim of our study is to evaluate the possibility of the presence of the disease in the dates before the diagnosis of COVID-19 in our country with imaging findings. Materials and Methods: The first Covid-19 diagnosis in our country was made on March 11, 2020, and in our city on March 26, 2020. A total of patients whose thorax bt was taken in a period of 45 days from 26 March 2020 backwards and in the same period of the previous year were included in the study. The images were evaluated by two radiologists according to The Radiological Society of North America consensus statement. In order to evaluate the pre-existing disease with higher accuracy, the images were divided into two groups: 1) Typical and indeterminate, 2) Atypical and negative for pneumonia, Results: Before the beginning of pandemic, there were a total of 502 patients who had chest CT scans, including 365 patients from 2019 and 137 patients from 2020. There was a statistically significant difference between negative for pneumonia subgroups of 2019 and 2020. Conclusion: In our study, the number of patients with typical COVID-19 findings according to CT scans in the pre-pandemic period was determined similar to the previous year. This may be an indication that the disease has not started before the specified date in our country.

Keywords

• covid-19
• computed tomography
• diagnosis
• disease reporting