Background: The impact of serial imaging on the outcome of ICU patients has not been studied specifically in patients with high illness severity.
Methods: The authors sought a relationship between the numbers of antero-posterior supine chest X-rays (CXR), computed tomography (CT) examinations, and outcome in a cohort of 292 patients with severe COVID-19 ARDS collected over 24 months in a high-volume ECMO center with established ultrasound and echocardiographic diagnostics. Of the patients, 172 (59%) were obese or morbidly obese, and 119 (41%) were treated with ECMO.
Results: The median number of CXRs was eight per 14 days of the length of stay in the ICU. The CXR rate was not related to ICU survival (p = 0.37). Patients required CT scanning in 26.5% of cases, with no relationship to the outcome except for the better ICU survival of the ECMO patients without a need for a CT scan (p = 0.01). The odds ratio for survival associated with ordering a CT scan in an ECMO patient was 0.48, p = 0.01. The calculated savings for not routinely requesting a whole-body CT scan in every patient were 98.685 EUR/24 months.
Conclusions: Serial imaging does not impact the survival rates of patients with severe ARDS. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patients who did not need CT scanning had significantly better ICU outcomes.
Keywords: COVID-19 pneumonia; acute respiratory distress syndrome; barotrauma; chest X-ray; chest computer tomography; chest ultrasonography; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; pneumothorax.