Objective: The primary aim of this study is to document the chest X-ray findings in children with COVID-19 pneumonia. The secondary aim is to correlate chest X-ray findings to patient outcome.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of children (0-18 years) with SARS-CoV-2 admitted to our hospital from June 2020 to December 2021. The chest radiographs were assessed for: peribronchial cuffing, ground-glass opacities (GGOs), consolidation, pulmonary nodules and pleural effusion. The severity of the pulmonary findings was graded using a modification of the Brixia score.
Results: There were a total of 90 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection; the mean age was 5.8 years (age range 7 days to 17 years). Abnormalities were seen on the CXR in 74 (82%) of the 90 patients. Bilateral peribronchial cuffing was seen in 68% (61/90), consolidation in 11% (10/90), bilateral central GGOs in 2% (2/90) and unilateral pleural effusion in 1% (1/90). Overall the average CXR score in our cohort of patients was 6. The average CXR score in patients with oxygen requirement was 10. The duration of hospital stay was significantly longer in those patients with CXR score >9.
Conclusion: The CXR score has the potential to serve as tool to identify children at high risk and may aid planning of clinical management in such patients.
Keywords: COVID-19 in children; chest X-ray COVID-19; chest radiograph; paediatric COVID-19.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) created a global pandemic in early March 2020. There are very few studies describing the lung changes in affected children. We performed a retrospective study in children, aged between 0 days and 18 years, who tested positive for this virus. This study was conducted in a paediatric tertiary care hospital in South India. Chest X-ray (CXR) was done in children with moderate and severe SARS-CoV-2 infection; these X-rays were reviewed and scoring was done to assess the degree of abnormality. It was seen that the duration of hospital stay was longer in children with a high CXR score. Amongst the children with score >9, 60% needed oxygen support during their treatment. Thus, CXR score can play a role in the prediction of disease outcome in SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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