Frontiers in Medicine (Apr 2022)

Chest Computed Tomography Is an Efficient Method for Initial Diagnosis of COVID-19: An Observational Study

  • Waldonio de Brito Vieira,
  • Karen Margarete Vieira da Silva Franco,
  • Apio Ricardo Nazareth Dias,
  • Apio Ricardo Nazareth Dias,
  • Aline Semblano Carreira Falcão,
  • Luiz Fábio Magno Falcão,
  • Juarez Antonio Simões Quaresma,
  • Juarez Antonio Simões Quaresma,
  • Rita Catarina Medeiros de Sousa

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.848656
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that can lead to pneumonia, pulmonary oedema, acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiple organ and system dysfunction, and death. This study aimed to verify the efficacy of chest computed tomography (CT) for the initial diagnosis of COVID-19. This observational, retrospective, cross-sectional study included 259 individuals who underwent clinical evaluation, blood collection, chest CT, and a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) diagnostic test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during their course of treatment at a reference hospital in Belém, Pará, Brazil between April and June 2020. Inclusion criteria were flu-like symptoms in adults of both sexes. Individuals with an inconclusive COVID-19 molecular test or who had artifacts in the chest CT images were excluded. Parametric data were analyzed using Student-t-test and non-parametric data were analyzed using average test and Fisher exact test. Participants were divided into two groups: Group 1 (COVID-19 positive), n = 211 (124 males, 87 females), 51.8 ± 17.9 years old and Group 2 (COVID-19 negative), n = 48 (22 males, 26 females), 47.6 ± 18.6 years old. Most frequent symptoms were cough [Group 1 n = 199 (94%)/Group 2 n = 46 (95%)], fever [Group 1 n = 154 (72%)/Group 2 n = 28 (58%)], myalgia [Group 1 n = 172 (81%)/Group 2 n = 38 (79%)], dyspnoea [Group 1 n = 169 (80%) / Group 2 n = 37 (77%)], headache [Group 1 n = 163 (77%)/Group 2 n = 32 (66%)], and anosmia [Group 1 n = 154 (73%)/Group 2 n = 29 (60%)]. Group 1 had a higher proportion of ground-glass opacity [Group 1 n = 175 (83%)/Group 2 n = 24 (50%), 0.00], vascular enhancement sign [Group 1 n = 128 (60%)/Group 2 n = 15 (31%), 0.00], septal thickening [Group 1 n = 99 (47%)/Group 2 n = 13 (27%), 0.01], crazy-paving pattern [Group 1 n = 98 (46%) / Group 2 n = 13 (27%), 0.01], consolidations [Group 1 n = 92 (43%)/Group 2 n = 8 (16%), 0.00], and CO-RADS 4 and 5 [Group 1 n = 163 (77.25%)/Group 2 n = 24 (50%), 0.00] categories in chest CT. Chest CT, when available, was found to be an efficient method for the initial diagnosis and better management of individuals with COVID-19.

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