Brixia Chest X-ray Scoring System in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia for Determining Outcomes

Abstract

Introduction: In early stage of disease of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection chest Computed Tomography (CT) imaging is considered as the most effective method for detecting lung abnormalities. A Brixia Chest X-ray (CXR) scoring system which uses an 18-point severity scale to grade lung abnormalities due to COVID-19 was developed to improve the risk stratification for infected patients. Aim: To ascertain the validity of Brixia scoring system and to measure the outcome in COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from 1st April 2020 to 31st July 2020, at a tertiary care hospital in India. Baseline CXR of COVID-19 patients were scored based on Brixia scoring system. The lungs were divided into six equal zones. Subsequently, scores (from 0-3) were assigned to each zone, based on lung abnormalities. A group comparison was implemented using Chi-Square test for categorical variables. Whereas an independent t-test was applied for continuous variables that followed normal distribution. Results: The study included 130 patients. The mean age was 57.09±13.73 years, 70.8% patients included were males. Out of 130 patients, 79 patients died. Among patients who died the mean CXR score was calculated to be 12.13±2.50. The mean CXR score was calculated to be 11.18±2.30 in patients who recovered and got discharged. During the process of comparison of CXR scores with the outcomes, the t-value came out to be 2.20 and the resulting p-value was 0.03 (statistically significant). Conclusion: Brixia score more than 12 was associated with increased mortality due to COVID-19, with p-value of 0.03.