CT Severity Score in COVID-19 Patients and its Association with Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It is thought that, people who have Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and Hypertension (HTN) are more likely to get a severe COVID19 infection. High-resolution Chest Computed Tomography (HRCT) has been shown to provide immediate results with high sensitivity and specificity for determining the severity of COVID19 infection and lung involvement. Aim: To determine the association between chest CT Severity Scores (CTSS) and DM and HTN in COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted in the Department of Radiodiagnosis at, Gajra Raja Medical College, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. The duration of the study was 1 month, from July 2020 to August 2020. Based on the degree of lung involvement seen on HRCT chest scans, A total of 100 patients (68 males and 32 females) with COVID-19 infection were given a quantitative CTSS. The patients were divided into groups with mild, moderate, and severe lung involvement based on the CTSS. The Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between DM, HTN, and CTSS. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. Results: The mean age of study participants was 45.7±15.95 years. A total of 72 (72%) of the participants were of normal weight, 8 (8%) were overweight or obese, and 20 (20%) were underweight. COVID19 patients with a co-diagnosis of DM (61.9%) or HTN (69.2%) had more severe lung involvement than COVID-19 patients without DM (19%) or HTN (21%). DM and HTN were found to be significantly associated with severe lung involvement (p-value<0.01). Conclusion: Diabetic and hypertensive patients are more likely than non diabetic and non hypertensive patients to develop the severe form of COVID-19 and have a higher CT lung involvement score. DM and HTN should be considered as risk factors for the severity of COVID-19 disease.