Typical radiological progression and clinical features of patients with coronavirus disease 2019

Aging (Albany NY). 2020 May 2;12(9):7652-7659. doi: 10.18632/aging.103170. Epub 2020 May 2.

Abstract

We aimed to describe typical radiological features and progression of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. We reviewed the chest CT scans, laboratory findings, and clinical records of 66 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to affiliated hospitals of Nanchang university, Nanchang, China, from Jan 21 to Feb 2, 2020. CT was used to evaluate the radiological characteristics of COVID-19 patients. Only 4 patients (4/66, 6%) claimed their exposure to COVID-19 pneumonia patients. The major symptoms were fever (60/66, 91%) and cough (37/66, 56%). The predominant features of lesion were scattered (43/66, 65%), bilateral (50/66, 76%), ground-glass opacity (64/66, 97%), and air bronchogram sign (47/66, 71%). Forty-eight patients (48/66, 73%) had more than two lobes involved. Right lower lobe (58/66, 88%) and left lower lobe (49/66, 74%) were most likely invaded. Twelve patients (12/66, 18%) had at least one comorbid condition. Pleural traction (29/66, 44%), crazy paving (15/66, 23%), interlobular septal thickening (11/66, 17%), and consolidation (7/66, 11%) were also observed. The typical radiology features of COVID-19 patients are scattered ground-glass opacity in the bilateral lobes. Fever and cough are the major symptoms. Evaluating chest CT, clinical symptoms, and laboratory results could facilitate the early diagnosis of COVID-19, and judge disease progression.

Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia; COVID-19; chest CT; ground-glass opacity; radiological features.

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification
  • COVID-19
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnostic imaging*
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology
  • Coronavirus Infections / pathology
  • Coronavirus Infections / virology
  • Disease Progression
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / diagnostic imaging*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology
  • Pneumonia, Viral / pathology
  • Pneumonia, Viral / virology*
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods