CHEST X RAY SCORE AND CLINICAL SEVERITY IN COVID-19 PATIENTS

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Various chest X-ray scoring systems have been discovered and are employed to correlate with clinical severity, outcome and progression of diseases. With, the coronavirus outbreak, few chest radiograph classication were formulated, like the BSTI classication and the Brixia chest X-ray score. Brixia CXR scoring is used for assessing the clinical severity and outcome of COVID-19. This study aims to compare the Brixia CXR score with clinical severity of COVID-19 patients. MATERIAL& METHODS:This was a retrospective study in which medical records of patients aged 18 years or above, who tested for RTPCR or st st Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) for COVID positive from 1 February 2021 to 31 July 2021 (6 months) were taken. These subjects were stratied into mild, moderate and severe patients according to the ICMR guidelines. Chest X Rays were obtained and lesions were classied according to Brixia scoring system. RESULTS: Out of these 375 patients, 123 (32.8%) were female and 252 (67.2%) were male subjects. The average brixia score was 11.12. Average Brixia CXR score for mild, moderate and severe diseased subjects were 5.23, 11.20, and 14.43 respectively. DISCUSSION:The extent of chest x-ray involvement is proportional to the clinical severity of the patient. Although, a perplexing nding was that the average Brixia score of the female subjects were slightly higher than their male counterparts in the same clinical groups. CONCLUSION: Brixia CXR score correlates well with the clinical severity of the COVID-19.