Opacity Pattern Research Articles

Compatible with fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis on high-resolution computed tomography: from the ATS/JRS/ALAT 2020 hypersensitivity pneumonitis guidelines.

In compatible with fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) of the computed tomography (CT) classification using the American Thoracic Society (ATS)/Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS)/Latin American Thoracic Association (ALAT) HP guidelines, the lung fibrosis pattern was classified as either a usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern or a diffuse ground-glass opacity (GGO) pattern with subtle fibrosis. We investigated whether patients with the same imaging classification had different disease progression. We also attempted to reclassify these patients using the CHEST HP guidelines. Patients with fibrotic HP who had compatible CT pattern in the ATS/JRS/ALAT classification were investigated retrospectively. With 62 patients in the UIP pattern group and 25 patients in the diffuse GGO pattern group, 87 patients with fibrotic HP had compatible pattern on CT. Annual forced vital capacity changes in the UIP pattern group and diffuse GGO pattern group were -2.7% and +3.3% (P=0.004), respectively. The 5-year survival rates in the UIP pattern group and diffuse GGO pattern group were 86% and 100% (P=0.02). In UIP pattern group in the ATS/JRS/ALAT classification, 27% patients were classified as typical fibrotic HP pattern in the CHEST guidelines. In the diffuse GGO pattern group, 52% patients were classified as typical pattern of fibrotic HP. In the CHEST guidelines, more patients in the GGO pattern were classified as typical pattern compared with those in the UIP pattern (P=0.02). The two patterns in compatible with fibrotic HP of CT classification using the ATS/JRS/ALAT HP guidelines had different disease progression. Typical patterns were more frequent in the CHEST guidelines than the ATS/JRS/ALAT guidelines.

RAPID-Net: Reduced architecture for pneumonia in infants detection using deep convolutional framework using chest radiograph

ObjectivePneumonia is a thoracic disease triggered by a pathogen infection in the lungs. A routine diagnostic test to detect pneumonia is a chest radiography. Radiologists or expert physicians help to localize and diagnose pneumonia clouds in the chest X-Ray. Radiological practice is error-inclined due to the increasing patient volumes, limited number of experts and the subjective nature of individual perception. The existing computer aided pneumonia diagnostic techniques faces issues like imbalanced pneumonia dataset, limited quality of chest radiograph, pathological deformities, X-Ray imaging inhomogeneities, gross background noise, overlapped patterns of opacities and anatomical alterations caused due to misaligned body positioning. To mitigate the number of diagnostic flaws and to ease the task of radiologists, there is a necessity for computer-aided pneumonia detection from a given chest radiograph. MethodsReduced Architecture for Pneumonia in infants Detection (RAPID-Net) is introduced using thin stacking of convolutional layers having faster convergence along with suitable preprocessing and augmentation techniques addressing above mentioned challenges while extracting significant local and global statistical features for pneumonia cloud detection. ResultsThe retrospective quantitative analysis of the RAPID-Net in pneumonia detection reviews a promising accuracy rate of 94.6%, sensitivity score of 94.62%, and F1-score as 93.89%. SignificanceThe proposed RAPID-Net model highlights reduced deep architecture having 96% lesser trainable parameters and 42% reduction in computational time as compared to other competitive best performing pretrained backbone deep network. The clinical conduction and validation of results is supported by Radiologist, Sun Lab Diagnostic, Virar and Cardinal Gracias Memorial Hospital, Vasai.

50세 미만 성인 백내장 안에서 발생하는 수정체 혼탁의 패턴에 따른 객관적 검사 결과 분석

50세 미만 성인 백내장 안에서 발생하는 수정체 혼탁의 패턴에 따른 객관적 검사 결과 분석

Covid-19’lu Pediatrik Vakalardaki Toraks Tomografisi Bulgularının Yaşlara Göre Dağılımı , Thoracic computed tomography findings of pediatric COVID-19 cases according to age groups

Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate thoracic computed tomography (CT) findings of pediatric patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia according to age groups. Methods: A total of 105 patients aged between 0 and 18 years who were admitted to our clinic between April 2020 and September 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The definitive diagnosis was established by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing of the combined nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs. The patients were divided into three groups according to age: 0-6, 6-12, and 12-18 years. Thoracic CT findings at the time of initial admission were evaluated. Results: Of the patients, 51 had RT-PCR positivity for COVID-19, while 54 had RT-PCR negativity. Of the RT-PCR-positive patients, 30 (58.8%) had normal CT, while lung involvement was observed in 21 patients (41.2%). The most common thoracic CT findings were bilateral lung involvement (27.5%), lower lobe involvement (31.4%), nodular involvement (31.4%), and ground-glass opacity (37.3%). In the 6-12 age group, middle lobe involvement was significantly more frequent (p=0.041). The rate of consolidation significantly decreased with the increasing age (p=0.045). Conclusion: The most common CT findings were bilateral, peripheral lower lobe involvement in pediatric COVID-19 cases. Consolidation was the most frequent lesion in the 0-6 age group, which can be attributed to the high incidence of bacterial co-infection. In the 12-18 age group, the distribution, morphology, and opacity of the lesions were comparable with those seen in adults. The lesions presented with nodular and ground-glass opacity patterns in the 6-12 and 12-18 age groups.

Modelling opacity and variation in Gran Canarian Spanish apocope

In this paper, we present novel data from Spanish spoken on Gran Canaria which show an interaction of two lenition processes: final consonant deletion and vowel apocope. We show that in certain positions in an utterance, these processes optionally combine in a fed counterfeeding interaction. Furthermore, the variation present in the dialect due to process optionality uncovers a latent opacity pattern, i.e. an additional opaque interaction that is not motivated by any individual input-output mapping, but only by the quantitative aspect of variation. This takes the form of mutual counterfeeding, a rarely reported phenomenon, thus creating a novel test case for theories of opacity. The second part of the paper provides a formal analysis of the opacity-ridden data, taking into account process optionality and variation. The theoretical analysis and learning simulations using the Expectation-Driven Learner demonstrate that a probabilistic variant of Serial Markedness Reduction can capture both fed counterfeeding and latent opacity without recourse to additional mechanisms beyond the original framework, as opposed to analyses in other serial frameworks such as OT-CC. Our analysis shows that opacity with optional processes is a complex problem that has to be specifically addressed with probabilistic frameworks.

Characteristics of the pulmonary opacities on chest CT associated with difficulty in short-term liberation from veno-venous ECMO in patients with severe ARDS

BackgroundIt is clinically important to predict difficulty in short-term liberation from veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) at the time of initiation of the support. The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of pulmonary opacities on chest CT that is associated with difficulty in short-term liberation from V-V ECMO (< 14 days).MethodsThis multicenter retrospective study was conducted in adult patients initiated on V-V ECMO for severe ARDS between January 2014 and June 2022. The pulmonary opacities on CT at the time of initiation of the ECMO support were evaluated in a blinded manner, focusing on the following three characteristics of the opacities: (1) their distribution (focal/diffuse on the dorso-ventral axis or unilateral/bilateral on the left-right axis); (2) their intensity (pure ground glass/pure consolidation/mixed pattern); and (3) the degree of fibroproliferation (signs of traction bronchiectasis or reticular opacities).ResultsAmong the 153 patients, 72 (47%) were successfully liberated from ECMO in the short term, while short-term liberation failed in the remaining 81 (53%) patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of mixed-pattern pulmonary opacities and signs of traction bronchiectasis, but not the distribution of the opacities, were independently associated with difficulty in short-term liberation (OR [95% CI]; 4.8 [1.4–16.5] and 3.9 [1.4–11.2], respectively).ConclusionsThe presence of a mixed pattern of the pulmonary opacities and signs of traction bronchiectasis on the chest CT were independently associated with difficulty in short-term liberation from V-V ECMO in severe ARDS patients.

New technology using crystalline lens autofluorescence for presbyopia and cataract grading.

To investigate whether fundus autofluorescence (FAF) obtained using an ultra-wide field (UWF) fundus camera with an artificial opacity pattern can grade the degree of presbyopia and nuclear cataract. Sixty eyes of 30 patients were enrolled in this prospective diagnostic study. The nuclear cataract (nuclear color/opalescence (NC/NO)) was graded according to the Lens Opacity Classification System III. The monocular near point of accommodation (NPA) was measured in eyes with NC3/NO3 or less. The mean gray value difference between the central 8 artificial opacity lesions and peripheral 8 artificial opacity lesions in the retinal AF was measured. The correlation between the mean gray value difference, NPA, and nuclear cataract grade was analyzed. The mean nuclear cataract grade of 60 eyes was 3.2 ± 1.6 and mean NPA of 37 eyes was 45.3 ± 16.1 cm. The mean gray value differences increased with increasing nuclear cataract grade (eyes with NC/NO grade 1, 53.3 ± 11.4; 2, 78.3 ± 13.6; 3, 95.2 ± 12.2; 4, 101.6 ± 11.9; 5, 109.0 ± 22.9; and 6, 121.1 ± 12.0; p < 0.001). The mean gray value difference was positively correlated with both the monocular NPA (R2 = 0.637; β coefficient = 1.009; 95% CI, 0.748 to 1.271; p < 0.001) and nuclear cataract grade (R2 = 0.661; β coefficient = 12.437; 95% CI, 10.097 to 14.778; p < 0.001). The FAF camera with an artificial opacity pattern attached can be used to effectively diagnose the degree of presbyopia and nuclear cataract.

CT imaging findings in lung transplant recipients with COVID-19.

ObjectivesOur goal was to compare the chest computed tomography (CT) imaging findings of COVID-19 in lung transplant recipients (LTR) and a group of non-transplanted controls (NTC).MethodsThis retrospective study included 51 consecutive LTR hospitalized with COVID-19 from two centers. A total of 75 NTC were included for comparison. Images were classified regarding the standardized RSNA category, main pattern of lung attenuation, and longitudinal and axial distribution. Quantitative CT (QCT) analysis was performed to evaluate percentage of high attenuation areas (%HAA, threshold −250 to −700 HU). CT scoring was used to measure severity of parenchymal abnormalities.ResultsThe imaging findings of COVID-19 in LTR were significantly different from controls regarding the RSNA classification and pattern of lung attenuation. LTR had a significantly higher proportion of patients with an indeterminate pattern on CT (0.31 vs. 0.11, p = 0.014). The most frequent pattern of attenuation in LTR was predominantly consolidation (0.39 vs. 0.22, p = 0.144) followed by a mixed pattern of ground-glass opacities (GGO) and consolidation (0.37 vs. 0.20, adjusted p = 0.102). On the other hand, the most common pattern in NTC was GGO predominant (0.58 vs. 0.24 of LTR, p = 0.001). LTR had significantly more severe parenchymal disease measured by CT score and %HAA by QCT (0.372 ± 0.08 vs. 0.148 ± 0.06, p < 0.001).ConclusionThe most frequent finding of COVID-19 in LTR is a predominant pattern of consolidation. Compared to NTC, LTR more frequently demonstrated an indeterminate pattern according to the RSNA classification and more extensive lung abnormalities on QCT and semi-quantitative scoring.Key Points• The most common CT finding of COVID-19 in LTR is a predominant pattern of consolidation followed by a mixed pattern of GGO and consolidation, while controls more often have a predominant pattern of GGO.• LTR more often presents with an indeterminate pattern of COVID-19 by RSNA classification than controls; therefore, molecular testing for COVID-19 is essential for LTR presenting with lower airway infection independently of imaging findings.• LTR had more extensive disease by semi-quantitative CT score and increased percentage areas of high attenuation on QCT.

Clinical features, treatment and outcomes of an outbreak of type 7 adenovirus pneumonia in centralized residence young adults.

Human adenovirus type B7 (HAdV-B7) has been reported to cause pneumonia. However, there are limited data about the epidemiological and clinical features of HAdV-B7 pneumonia in young adults. This retrospective observational study included 52 patients diagnosed of human adenovirus B7 pneumonia in Nanjing, China from February 7, 2016, to February 20, 2016. We retrospectively collected and analyzed clinical, laboratory, and radiologic features, treatments and outcomes. The median age of the 52 patients was 19.5 years (IQR 18.0-21.0). The most common symptoms were fever (50, 96.2%), cough (49, 94.2%), and expectoration (48, 92.3%). Most of the routine hematology and blood chemistry parameters were within the normal range. The predominant abnormal patterns seen on chest CT were unilateral (33, 66%), multifocal (36, 72%), and ground-glass opacity (27, 54%), mainly involving the left lower lobes (41 [36.0%] of 114 affected segments). As the disease progressed in the second week after symptom onset, consolidation and mixed patterns became more common, while the ground glass opacity pattern decreased. The single-agent ribavirin therapy group had a significantly shorter duration of nonrespiratory symptoms, and no statistically significant difference was observed between the single-agent methylprednisolone group and the nonglucocorticoid group. The main symptoms in immunocompetent patients with adenovirus type 7 are fever, cough and sputum, with no significant abnormalities in laboratory tests. Chest CT scan mostly shows a ground-glass opacity at the beginning of the disease, which subsequently changes to a mixed pattern. Ribavirin and glucocorticoids did not shorten the course of disease.

Correlation Between Chest CT Severity Scores and Glycosylated Haemoglobin Levels and its Outcome in Patients With COVID-19: A Retrospective Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

BackgroundIn this study, we aimed to compare the imaging findings between coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients with well-controlled, poorly-controlled, and non-diabetic patients and subsequently find any relation between haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and high-resolution chest computed tomography (HRCT) chest score.MethodologyA total of 200 individuals with coexisting COVID-19 and type 2 diabetes mellitus were included in this retrospective cohort study. Based on their HbA1c levels, patients were divided into three groups. The imaging data and laboratory values were obtained from the online medical records of the patients. In addition, the chest computed tomography (CT) score was evaluated as the sum of individual scores from five lung lobes: scores of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were assigned to each lobe. Any peripheral opacification pattern was noted. Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and HRCT scores were then analysed by multiple linear regression models using R software.ResultsThe prevalence of diabetes in the study population was 71.5%. Of this, 56 patients had well-controlled diabetes (28%) and 87 patients had poorly controlled diabetes (43.5%); 126 (63%) patients were male and the median age was 54.45 years (95% CI: 54.45 ± 15.53). We found that diabetes status, co-presence of ground-glass appearance with mixed consolidation, and consolidation and reverse halo sign in the HRCT findings were significant predictors of the HRCT scores in patients with COVID-19.ConclusionsThe presence of any co-morbidities should be viewed as a high-risk case of COVID-19. Diabetes status is significantly associated with the severity of HRCT findings in lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection. Therefore, it is important to prioritise the patients who have COVID-19 along with diabetes.

The new useful high-resolution computed tomography finding for diagnosing fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis: \u201chexagonal pattern\u201d: a single-center retrospective study

BackgroundCentrilobular nodules, ground-glass opacity (GGO), mosaic attenuation, air trapping, and three-density pattern were reported as high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings characteristic of fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP). However, it is often difficult to differentiate fibrotic HP from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In fibrotic HP, the HRCT sometimes shows tortoiseshell-like interlobular septal thickening that extends from the subpleural lesion to the inner layers. This finding is called “hexagonal pattern,” and this study is focused on the possibility that such finding is useful for differentiating fibrotic HP from IPF.MethodsThis study included patients with multidisciplinary discussion (MDD) diagnosis of fibrotic HP or IPF undergoing surgical lung biopsy between January 2015 and December 2017 in Kanagawa Cardiovascular and Respiratory Center. Two radiologists have evaluated the HRCT findings without clinical and pathological information.ResultsA total of 23 patients were diagnosed with fibrotic HP by MDD and 48 with IPF. Extensive GGO, centrilobular nodules, and hexagonal pattern were more frequent findings in fibrotic HP than in IPF. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in the presence or absence of mosaic attenuation, air trapping, or three-density pattern. In the multivariate logistic regression, the presence of extensive GGO and hexagonal pattern was associated with increased odds ratio of fibrotic HP. The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis of fibrotic HP in the presence of the hexagonal pattern were 69.6% and 87.5%, respectively.ConclusionHexagonal pattern is a useful finding for differentiating fibrotic HP from IPF.

A new pattern of bilateral cataracts associated with hypocalcemia secondary to uncontrolled hypoparathyroidism

Hypoparathyroidism is a disorder characterized by hypocalcemia. Premature cataract is one of the signs of hypoparathyroidism, but it is very rare. The present text is a case report of a rare case of a new pattern of bilateral cataracts associated with hypocalcemia secondary to uncontrolled hypoparathyroidism. The patient is a 30-year-old male with a chief complaint of progressive, painless vision loss and tearing in both eyes and photophobia in the left eye for the past 10 months and paresthesia, muscle spasms, and tingling for 2 years before referral. He had a history of hypoparathyroidism disorder that was undertreated with medication. Central posterior subcapsular cataract in both the eyes had been diagnosed. He underwent cataract surgery of the left eye under topical anesthesia. The visual acuity improved from 20/40 to 20/20 postoperatively, and the patient did not have any visual symptoms. This case is the first report of cataract with feathery opacity pattern reported with high-quality imaging from a patient. This feathery opacity pattern may explain the difference in the morphology of this patient's cataracts from others.

Diabetic ketoacidosis precipitated by COVID-19 in patient with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus

Background. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Diabetes mellitus (DM) have been reported frequently in patients with the new corona virus disease — 2019, COVID-19. It has been associated with progressive course and worse outcome. There is scarce data on diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in COVID-19 infection. There has been several cases reported on COVID-19 infection precipitating a new diagnosis of type 2 DM (T2DM). However, there is a lack of evidence regarding type 1 DM (T1DM). We report a case of DKA precipitated by COVID-19 in a patient with newly diagnosed T1DM. Recently, case reports and small cross-sectional studies described diabetic patients who develop DKA when infected with COVID-19. The incidence of DKA has been found to be high in patients with T1DM and T2DM admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Case presentation. We present a 29 year-old, previously healthy man with 5 days history of fever, fatigue, vomiting, polydipsia and polyuria. His lab results showed high blood glucose, high anion gap metabolic acidosis and ketonuria diagnostic of DKA. He also tested positive for COVID-19 and his Chest CT was consistent with bilateral COVID 19 pneumonia (ground-glass opacity, consolidation, and crazy-paving pattern). He was successfully managed with intravenous fluids and insulin as per DKA protocol. He required intravenous antibiotics, steroids and oxygenotherapy for COVID-19 pneumonia. He was discharged after 14 days in stable condition. Conclusions. COVID-19 infection can be complicated by DKA and development of DM in previously non-diabetic individuals. It is possible that SARS-CoV-2 may aggravate pancreatic beta cell function and precipitate DKA. Very few cases have been reported in the literature on COVID-19 infection precipitating DKA in a newly diagnosed patient of type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Relationship between chest CT scan findings with SOFA score, CRP, comorbidity, and mortality in ICU patients with COVID-19.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the relationship between chest computed tomography (CT) scan findings with sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, C‐reactive protein (CRP), comorbidity, and mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID‐19).MethodAdult patients (≥18 years old) with COVID‐19 who were consecutively admitted to the Imam‐Reza Hospital, Tabriz, East‐Azerbaijan Province, North‐West of Iran between March 2020 and August 2020 were screened and total of 168 patients were included. Demographic, clinical, and mortality data were gathered. Severity of disease was evaluated using the SOFA score system. CRP levels were measured and chest CT scans were performed.ResultsMost of patients had multifocal and bilateral ground glass opacity (GGO) pattern in chest CT scan. There were significant correlations between SOFA score on admission with multifocal and bilateral GGO (P = .010 and P = .011, respectively). Significant relationships were observed between unilateral and bilateral GGO patterns with CRP (P = .049 and P = .046, respectively). There was significant relationship between GGO patterns with comorbidities including overweight/obesity, heart failure, cardiovascular diseases, and malignancy (P < .05). No significant relationships were observed between chest CT scan results with mortality (P > .05).ConclusionMultifocal bilateral GGO was the most common pattern. Although chest CT scan characteristics were significantly related with SOFA score, CRP, and comorbidity in ICU patients with COVID‐19, a relationship with mortality was not significant.

Computed tomography findings of COVID-19 pneumonia in Intensive Care Unit-patients.

Background: In December 2019, a cluster of unknown etiology pneumonia cases occurred in Wuhan, China leading to identification of the responsible pathogen as SARS-coV-2. Since then, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread to the entire world. Computed Tomography (CT) is frequently used to assess severity and complications of COVID-19 pneumonia. The purpose of this study is to compare the CT patterns and clinical characteristics in intensive care unit (ICU) and non- ICU patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.Design and Methods: This retrospective study included 218 consecutive patients (136 males; 82 females; mean age 63±15 years) with laboratory-confirmed SARS-coV-2. Patients were categorized in two different groups: (a) ICU patients and (b) non-ICU inpatients. We assessed the type and extent of pulmonary opacities on chest CT exams and recorded the information on comorbidities and laboratory values for all patients.Results: Of the 218 patients, 23 (20 males: 3 females; mean age 60 years) required ICU admission, 195 (118 males: 77 females, mean age 64 years) were admitted to a clinical ward. Compared with non-ICU patients, ICU patients were predominantly males (60% versus 83% p=0.03), had more comorbidities, a positive CRP (p=0.04) and higher LDH values (p=0.008). ICU patients’ chest CT demonstrated higher incidence of consolidation (p=0.03), mixed lesions (p=0.01), bilateral opacities (p<0.01) and overall greater lung involvement by consolidation (p=0.02) and GGO (p=0.001).Conclusions: CT imaging features of ICU patients affected by COVID-19 are significantly different compared with non-ICU patients. Identification of CT features could assist in a stratification of the disease severity and supportive treatment. Significance for public health The major implication of our study is the differences in CT and laboratory findings in COVID-19 patients in ICU and non-ICU settings. Although the prospective impact of these findings was not assessed, recognition of these findings may help physicians anticipate the disease course and triage the patient to early ICU management. Our study highlights the importance of structured and quantitative reporting format where radiologists explicitly describe the specific pattern of pulmonary opacities (such as GGO, consolidation, and mixed) as well as lung areas and the number of lung lobes involved with COVID-19 pneumonia. To

Differential Diagnosis of COVID-19 Pneumonia From Influenza A (H1N1) Pneumonia Using a Model Based on Clinicoradiologic Features.

Objectives: Both coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia and influenza A (H1N1) pneumonia are highly contagious diseases. We aimed to characterize initial computed tomography (CT) and clinical features and to develop a model for differentiating COVID-19 pneumonia from H1N1 pneumonia.Methods: In total, we enrolled 291 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia from January 20 to February 13, 2020, and 97 patients with H1N1 pneumonia from May 24, 2009, to January 29, 2010 from two hospitals. Patients were randomly grouped into a primary cohort and a validation cohort using a seven-to-three ratio, and their clinicoradiologic data on admission were compared. The clinicoradiologic features were optimized by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression analysis to generate a model for differential diagnosis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted for assessing the performance of the model in the primary and validation cohorts.Results: The COVID-19 pneumonia mainly presented a peripheral distribution pattern (262/291, 90.0%); in contrast, H1N1 pneumonia most commonly presented a peribronchovascular distribution pattern (52/97, 53.6%). In LASSO logistic regression, peripheral distribution patterns, older age, low-grade fever, and slightly elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were associated with COVID-19 pneumonia, whereas, a peribronchovascular distribution pattern, centrilobular nodule or tree-in-bud sign, consolidation, bronchial wall thickening or bronchiectasis, younger age, hyperpyrexia, and a higher level of AST were associated with H1N1 pneumonia. For the primary and validation cohorts, the LASSO model containing above eight clinicoradiologic features yielded an area under curve (AUC) of 0.963 and 0.943, with sensitivity of 89.7 and 86.2%, specificity of 89.7 and 89.7%, and accuracy of 89.7 and 87.1%, respectively.Conclusions: Combination of distribution pattern and category of pulmonary opacity on chest CT with clinical features facilitates the differentiation of COVID-19 pneumonia from H1N1 pneumonia.

Investigation of HRCT Chest Severity in Patients with COVID-19: A Study of Tertiary Care Hospital in Pakistan

Background: High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) chest has a key role in diagnosis COVID-19, as it provides specific imaging features, i.e., bilateral, peripheral and sub-pleural, ground-glass opacity (GGO), consolidation and many associated findings. Aim: To provide the detailed chest HRCT findings along with clinical information in patients with COVID-19. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Radiology SZPGMI, Lahore. Information on clinical data, chest radiography appearance and comorbidities were recorded ona designed proforma. HRCT chest findings were recorded in terms of pattern, distribution, laterality, and other findings. HRCT chest severity was calculated using a 25 point CT severity score. Kendall’s Tau test applied to investigate the correlation between the severity of HRCT chest with clinical severity levels of COVID-19. Results: Fever (74%) was the most reported presenting symptom, followed by dry cough (70%). The majority of patients had abnormal chest X-ray (57%) as well as abnormal HRCT chest (90%). The majority of patients were in mild clinical scoring levels of disease (61%) and mild category (49%) of HRCT chest severity. In majority of the patients (46%), all five pulmonary lobes were involved, whereas the right lower lobe was most frequently affected. The pattern of ground-glass opacity (GGO) was found in 82% of patients. Most common distribution was ‘peripheral’, reported in 90% patients. Multiple lobe involvement was found in 82% of patients. The unilateral pulmonary involvement was observed in 12% of patients, whereas, bilateral was found in 78% of patients. Reticulations were reported in 22% followed by atelectasis in 18% patients. Conclusion: COVID-19 patients usually present with abnormal HRCT chest, mostly with a benign course. Multiple pulmonary lobes are commonly involved, especially basal lobes with ground glass opacities. Clinical severity of the disease is reflected in HRCT findings. Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic, HRCT Chest Findings, Ground Glass Opacity (GGO), Consolidation

KRİTİK COVİD 19 HASTALARINDA TORAKS TOMOGRAFİSİNİN PROGNOZDAKİ ÖNEMİ

Aim: Computed tomography (CT) images of the chest were often used to support the diagnosis of COVID-19 and infectious diseases. This study aims to question the importance of specific chest CT results in predicting the prognosis of COVID-19 patients being followed up in the intensive care unit (ICU). Materials and Methods: For this study, 20 critically ill patients whose RT-PCR tests were positive for COVID-19 were included. Mortality, invasive and non-invasive mechanical ventilator requirement, APACHE II scores and ICU staying days were compared chest CT scans with have poor prognosis results before admission to ICU. Results: Critical patients who were followed up in the ICU due to COVID-19 disease with crazy laying pattern on chest CT images, it was concluded that there is a statistically significant requirement for invasive mechanical ventilation support during the ICU period (P = 0.04). We reported that all patients with pleural and pericardial effusion required invasive mechanical ventilation support. One of the chest CT results observed in critical COVID-19 patients ın ICU is that the consolidation / ground glass opacity pattern&amp;gt; 1 may have a higher (about five-fold) mortality rate. Most of our critical COVID-19 patients who stayed in intensive care for a long time had a crazy laying pattern on chest CT images. Conclusion: We believe that some results obtained from chest CT scans in COVID-19 disease may predict the prognosis of the patient during the intensive care period.

Chest X-ray findings in COVID-19 patients: a descriptive study

Background: Early suspicion and diagnosis remains the cornerstone for the better outcome of patients and to decrease cross infection in cases of COVID-19 pneumonia. In a country like Nepal X-ray facilities are readily available radiological tool in most of the centers and can be important screening tool. There is a lack of studies detailing the chest XR (C-XR) findings in these patients when compared to that dedicated to the CT features. Study aims to describe the patterns of the lung opacities in CXR in these patients.Methods: This is retrospective descriptive study conducted at NMCTH in COVID-19 patients from 12 September to 17 October 2020. Demographic characteristics, symptoms, co-morbidities and C-XR findings were studied. CXR findings were categorized according to BSTI classification.Results: Among 111 COVID-19 RT-PCR positive cases admitted 102 (91.9%) belonged to age group 18-65 years, 89 (80.2%) were males. Cough and fever were the commonest symptoms present in 109 (98.2%) patients. Ischemic heart disease and hypertension in 32 (28.8%) patients were the commonest co morbidities. According to British society of thoracic imaging (BSTI) COVID-19 CXR classification, six patients (5.4%) had normal chest X-rays. Classic/probable COVID-19 picture was present in 79 (71.17%) patients while (7.2%) had intermediate for COVID-19 X-ray findings. Among 79 patients with classic/probable COVID-19 CXR findings 71 (89.8%) had bilateral consolidation/ground glass haze, 72 (91.1%) had peripheral lung involvement while 66 (83.5%) had middle and lower zone involvement.Conclusions: Ground glass opacities/consolidations with bilateral location, peripheral distribution and middle- lower zone predominance were the commonest X-ray findings in our study.

Longitudinal Chest CT Features in Severe/Critical COVID-19 Cases and the Predictive Value of the Initial CT for Mortality.

PurposeTo evaluate longitudinal computed tomography (CT) features and the predictive value of the initial CT and clinical characteristics for mortality in patients with severe/critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia.MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on patients with COVID-19 pneumonia confirmed by laboratory. By excluding mild and common patients, 155 severe/critical patients with definite outcome were finally enrolled. A total of 516 CTs of 147 patients were divided into four stages according to the time after onset (stage 1, 1–7 days; stage 2, 8–14 days; stage 3, 15–21 days, and stage 4, >21 days). The evolving imaging features between the survival and non-survival groups were compared by using Chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, student’s t-test or Mann–Whitney U-test, as appropriate. The predictive value of clinical and CT features at admission for mortality was analysed through logistic regression analysis. To avoid overfitting caused by CT scores, CT scores were divided into two parts, which were combined with clinical variables, respectively, to construct the models.ResultsGround-glass opacities (GGO) patterns were predominant for stages 1 and 2 for both groups (both P>0.05). The numbers of consolidation lesions increased in stage 3 in both groups (P=0.857), whereas the linear opacity increased in the survival group but decreased in the non-survival group (P=0.0049). In stage 4, the survival group predominantly presented linear opacity patterns, whereas the non-survival group mainly showed consolidation patterns (P=0.007). Clinical and imaging characteristics correlated with mortality; multivariate analyses revealed age >71 years, neutrophil count >6.38 × 109/L, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) >58 IU/L, and CT score (total lesions score >17 in model 1, GGO score >14 and consolidation score >2 in model 2) as independent risk factors (all P<0.05). The areas under the curve of the six independent risk factors alone ranged from 0.65 to 0.75 and were 0.87 for model 2, 0.89 for model 1, and 0.92 for the six variables combined. Statistical differences were observed between Kaplan Meier curves of groups separated by cut-off values of these six variables (all P<0.01).ConclusionLongitudinal imaging features demonstrated differences between the two groups, which may help determine the patient’s prognosis. The initial CT score combined with age, AST, and neutrophil count is an excellent predictor for mortality in COVID-19 patients.