Early Prediction of Disease Progression in 2019 Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Patients Outside Wuhan with CT and Clinical Characteristics

Zhichao Feng; Qizhi Yu; Shanhu Yao; Lei Luo; Junhong Duan; Zhimin Yan; Min Yang; Hongpei Tan; Mengtian Ma; Ting Li; Dali Yi; Ze Mi; Huafei Zhao; Yi Jiang; Zhenhu He; Huiling Li; Wei Nie; Yin Liu; Jing Zhao; Muqing Luo; Xuanhui Liu; Pengfei Rong; Wei Wang

The SOMATOM go.Top scanner (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany), GE Revolution CT scanner (GE Healthcare, Waukesha, USA), and TOSHIBA Aquilion 16 (Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan) were used for chest CT examinations. The images were reconstructed to 1.0-mm thickness for the transverse scans. Sagittal and coronal reconstructions with a 3.0-mm thickness were performed. All CT images were reviewed independently by two radiologists, each with over 10 years of experience in chest imaging. A third experienced radiologist was consulted if there was a disagreement in interpreting imaging results. The imaging features including ground-glass opacities (GGO), consolidation, crazy-paving, and air bronchogram defined as previous studies were recorded. 8, 9 The lesion distribution pattern, lobe and segment involvement were also assessed. The CT findings in the outer one third of the lung were defined as peripheral, and those in the inner two thirds of the lung were defined as central. Besides, the presence of discrete nodules, lymphadenopathy, and pleural effusion was recorded. Each of the five lung lobes was reviewed for opacification and consolidation. The lesions extent within each lung lobe was semi-quantitatively evaluated by scoring from 0 to 5 based on the degree of involvement: score 0, none involvement; score 1, ≤ 5% involvement; score 2, 6%~25% involvement; score 3, 26%~50% involvement; score 4, 51%~75% involvement; score 5, > 75% involvement. The total score was calculated by summing up scores of all five lobes to provide a CT severity score ranging from 0 to 25. 7 . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.