Differences among COVID-19, Bronchopneumonia and Atypical Pneumonia in Chest High Resolution Computed Tomography Assessed by Artificial Intelligence Technology

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the results of automatic assessment of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) by artificial intelligence (AI) in 150 patients from three subgroups: pneumonia in the course of COVID-19, bronchopneumonia and atypical pneumonia. The volume percentage of inflammation and the volume percentage of “ground glass” were significantly higher in the atypical (respectively, 11.04%, 8.61%) and the COVID-19 (12.41%, 10.41%) subgroups compared to the bronchopneumonia (5.12%, 3.42%) subgroup. The volume percentage of consolidation was significantly higher in the COVID-19 (2.95%) subgroup compared to the atypical (1.26%) subgroup. The percentage of “ground glass” in the volume of inflammation was significantly higher in the atypical (89.85%) subgroup compared to the COVID-19 (79.06%) subgroup, which in turn was significantly higher compared to the bronchopneumonia (68.26%) subgroup. HRCT chest images, analyzed automatically by artificial intelligence software, taking into account the structure including “ground glass” and consolidation, significantly differ in three subgroups: COVID-19 pneumonia, bronchopneumonia and atypical pneumonia. However, the partial overlap, particularly between COVID-19 pneumonia and atypical pneumonia, may limit the usefulness of automatic analysis in differentiating the etiology. In our future research, we plan to use artificial intelligence for objective assessment of the dynamics of pulmonary lesions during COVID-19 pneumonia.

The role of artificial intelligence technology analysis of HRCT images in predicting the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia

“…However, doubts soon arose about the specificity of the identification of COVID-19 pneumonia and the need to differentiate it from other causes of pneumonia [8,9,10].…”

Clinical significance of chest CT for the exclusion of COVID-19 in pre-admission screening: Is it worthwhile using chest CT with reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction test?

“…One explanation for the high false-positive rate of chest CT in asymptomatic patients is that many diseases can radiologically mimic COVID-19 pneumonia, including other forms of viral pneumonia [ 22 , 23 ], atypical pneumonia [ 24 ], interstitial pneumonia [ 3 , 8 , 12 , 21 , 22 ], drug-induced pneumonia [ 21 , 25 , 26 ], and traumatic changes such as rib fractures [ 27 ]. Our results suggested that unknown early or mild interstitial pneumonia and bilateral lower lobe dorsal lung collapse due to poor inspiration were difficult to differentiate from mild COVID-19 pneumonia, which supports the findings of previous reports [ 3 , 8 , 12 , 21 , 22 ].…”

Mechanical thrombectomy in COVID-19-associated ischaemic stroke: patient characteristics and outcomes in a single-centre study

“…In patients with COVID-19, we also noted the clinical and radiological symptoms of lung involvement. HRCT (high resolution computed tomography) images were analysed by the artificial intelligence technology software YITU Healthcare to automatically measure the relative (%) volume of inflammation in both lungs (the methodology was as described in a previous work from our centre) [13]. The chest X-ray images were assessed by a radiologist using a semiquantitative chest X-ray severity score [14].…”