Outcome of High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) Scan of Chest of COVID-19 Affected Patients: A Study in a COVID-19 Dedicated Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Recent studies have assessed the importance of chest CT scans, particularly high-resolution CT (HRCT), in hospitalized COVID-19 patients who are suspected of having the virus or have had false negative test results. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the outcome of High-Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) of chest of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional prospective study carried out in the department of Radiology and imaging in collaboration with the department of Virology and COVID unit in IbnSina Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh during January, 2022 to June, 2022. A total of 300 confirmed COVID-19 positive admitted cases in the hospital, aged above 18 years were enrolled in this study. All the patients were under went High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) of Chest scan. The collected data were cleaned, edited and entered into computer for analysis. The data were analyzed by SPSS-23.0. The ethical clearance of this study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of School of Public Health & Life Science, University of South Asia, and Dhaka, Bangladesh. Results: In this study a total of 300 COVID-19 positive cases were enrolled. Among the patients, the majority203 (67.66%) patients belonged to the age group >52 years, which was the highest and followed by 44 (14.66%) age group (43-52) years, 36 (12%) (33-42) years, 14 (4.66%) (22-32) years and 3 (1%) <22 years. According to sex distribution, the majority cases 160 (53.33%) were male and 140 (46.66%) were female. According to the distribution of clinical presentation, the highest symptom was observed, general weakness 300 (100%) and followed by sneezing 288 (96%), fever 246 (82%), headache 239 (79.66%), cough 232 (77.33%), respiratory distress, 225 (75%), cough and SOB, 220 (73.33%), loss of smell, 222 (74%), lac of apatite, 216 (72%), asthma 130 (43.33) and pneumonia, 120 (40%). According to the distribution of HRCT findings of chest of the COVID-19 positive cases, 163 (54.33%) had Ground glass opacity, which was the largest observation and followed by 66 (22%), Ground glass opacity with pneumonia, 34 (11.33%) Ground glass opacity with consolidation, 31 (10.33) Ground glass opacity with fibrosis, and 6 (2%) Ground glass opacity with pleural effusion. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that doing a high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan of the chest is a valuable method for diagnosing and assessing the response to treatment in COVID-19 patients. Additionally, it serves as a significant predictor for future prognosis.