Chest CT Findings in Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19): Relationship to Duration of Infection

Bernheim, Adam; Mei, Xueyan; Huang, Mingqian; Yang, Yang; Fayad, Zahi A.; Zhang, Ning; Diao, Kaiyue; Lin, Bin; Zhu, Xiqi; Li, Kunwei; Li, Shaolin; Shan, Hong; Jacobi, Adam; Chung, Michael

In this retrospective study, chest CTs of 121 symptomatic patients infected with coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) from four centers in China from January 18, 2020 to February 2, 2020 were reviewed for common CT findings in relationship to the time between symptom onset and the initial CT scan (i.e. early, 0-2 days (36 patients), intermediate 3-5 days (33 patients), late 6-12 days (25 patients)). The hallmarks of COVID-19 infection on imaging were bilateral and peripheral ground-glass and consolidative pulmonary opacities. Notably, 20/36 (56%) of early patients had a normal CT. With a longer time after the onset of symptoms, CT findings were more frequent, including consolidation, bilateral and peripheral disease, greater total lung involvement, linear opacities, “crazy-paving” pattern and the “reverse halo” sign. Bilateral lung involvement was observed in 10/36 early patients (28%), 25/33 intermediate patients (76%), and 22/25 late patients (88%).