Abstract
Purpose: We aimed to investigate the relationship between clinical characteristics, radiographic features, and the viral load of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Methods and Materials: We retrospectively collected 56 COVID-19 cases from two institutions in Hunan province, China. The basal clinical characteristics, detail imaging features and follow-up CT changes were evaluated and the relationship with the viral load was analyzed.Results: GGO (48, 85.7%) and vascular enlargement (44, 78.6%) were the most frequent signs in COVID-19 patients. Of the lesions, 64.3% of the margins were uneasily differentiated. However, no significant correlations were found in terms of leucocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, platelets, and C-reactive protein (all P > 0.05). In contrast, the uneasily differentiated margin was negatively correlated with the Ct value (r = −0.283, P = 0.042), that is, an uneasily differentiated margin indicated a lower Ct value (P = 0.043). Patients with a lower Ct value were likely to present a progress follow-up change (P = 0.022). The Ct value at baseline could predict a progress follow-up change with an AUC of 0.685 (Cut-off value = 29.48). All four patients with normal CT findings presented new lesion(s) on follow-up CT scans.Conclusion: The viral load of COVID-19 is negatively correlated with an uneasily differentiated lesion margin on initial CT scan images and the Ct value should noted when making a diagnosis. In addition, following-up CT scans are necessary for patients who presented a normal CT at the initial diagnosis, especially for those with a low Ct value.
Highlights
A cluster of “unknown viral pneumonia” cases in Wuhan, China, was reported to World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31 2019 [1]
Data were presented as numbers, except for computed tomography (CT) score, which presented as median (Inter quartile range)
It is noted that 4 (7.1%) patients denied any direct exposure history and indirect exposure to confirmed patients and 17 (30.3%) patients were related to a family outbreak
Summary
A cluster of “unknown viral pneumonia” cases in Wuhan, China, was reported to World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31 2019 [1]. A novel coronavirus, named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified through deep sequencing analysis [2]. The genome sequence findings suggested that the presence of COVID-19 was closely related to another coronavirus termed severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-related CoV [5]. Assessing the disease severity of COVID-19 is still vital for clinical treatment scenarios and taking action in advance to avoid the presence of rapid progress. The assessment of the Ct value of the virus needs a real-time reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction test (RT-PCR), which has inherent disadvantages including possible false positive results and a long turnaround time. Identifying the potential clinical alternative factors of the Ct value may help us assess the disease severity efficiently
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have