Correlation between comorbidities and thoracic CT manifestations of COVID-19 pneumonia

Abstract

Pulmonary manifestation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is described using standardized computed tomography (CT) morphologic criteria. In this study, we investigated possible associations between thoracic CT manifestations in COVID-19 pneumonia and typical comorbidities, as well as clinical course. We analyzed clinical data and pulmonary imaging of 61patients with positive PCR test. Pulmonary changes were categorized and reviewed for associations with pre-existing comorbidities and clinical course. Compared to patients with atypical infiltrate patterns (2/19, 10.5%), 25patients with typical infiltrate patterns (25/42, 59.5%) were significantly more likely to receive intensive care (p<0.001). In addition, patients with typical infiltrate patterns were more likely to receive non-invasive ventilation (12/42, 28.6%, p=0.040) and high-flow therapy (8/42, 19%, p=0.041) compared to patients with atypical infiltrate patterns. Mortality was also higher in patients with typical infiltrate patterns, with 15patients (15/42, 35.7%) dying during follow-up compared to only 1patient with atypical infiltrate pattern (1/19, 10.5%, p=0.012). No significant association between specific comorbidities and the resulting infiltrate pattern could be demonstrated. Patients with a typical COVID-19 infiltrate pattern are more likely to receive intensive care and show higher mortality rates. Further analysis with larger patient collectives is needed to identify specific risk factors for typical COVID-19 pneumonia.