Diagnostic Tools for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Comparing CT and RT-PCR Viral Nucleic Acid Testing

Radiological findings in low dose CT for COVID-19 pneumonia in 182 patients: correlation of signs and severity with patient outcome

“…In general, the study cohort contained patients in a moderately to advanced stage of COVID-19 pneumonia explaining the higher reported occurrence rate of bilateral and multilobular involvement, the lower only peripheral and basal involvement and the higher occurrence rate of GGO, consolidations, crazy paving and signs of bacterial superinfection (1-2-6) . The distribution pattern and the estimated involvement per lung lobe was similar compared to earlier studies (2)(3)(4)(5) .…”

“…As reported in recent publications, the CT-appearance of COVID-19 pneumonia is depending on the time between symptom onset and the CT scan (2) . CT is often normal in the rst two days after symptom onset (3) . The rst abnormal CT ndings are described as hazy nodular GGO in a peripheral lobular distribution and typically with a lower lung predominance.…”

Chest CT in the Emergency Department for Diagnosis of COVID-19 Pneumonia: Dutch Experience

“…Pulmonary manifestations of COVID-19 on CT (CO-RADS ≥3) were seen in 67% of the patients with a symptom duration of less than 48 hours and in 95% of the patients with a symptom duration of more Previous studies have reported higher sensitivities for CT diagnosis of COVID-19(3, 9, 10), but this may be exaggerated due to biased samples and cohorts (11). Reports on CT specificity are scarce and thus far disappointingly indicating values often below 50% (3,6,(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17).…”

Contribution of CT Features in the Diagnosis of COVID-19

“…Additionally, examination with CT has been recommended as a key tool for diagnosing and monitoring disease progression and follow-up by the National Health Commission of China (available at http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2020-02/19/content_5480948.htm ). The combined application of RT-PCR and CT may have advantages over single test alone and may increase the accuracy and sensitivity of diagnosis, although the algorithm of combining RT-PCR and early chest CT has not been fully studied yet and is still to be proven with more further studies [ 5 , 6 ]. Different CT features have been reported by various studies at different time points, but some typical and primary characteristics can be generalized, including the bilateral and lower distribution of ground-glass opacities (GGOs), crazy-paving patterns, and consolidations in the peripheral lung area [ 7 , 8 ].…”