Could chest CT findings taken on admission in symptomatic patients with COVID-19 be related to the prognosis and clinical outcome of the disease?

Gunduz, Yasemin; Karacan, Alper; Karabay, Oguz; Erdem, Ali Fuat; Kindir, Osman; Ozturk, Mehmet Halil

AIM Initial chest CT findings of patients were compared by grouping them according to the clinical outcome of the infection and those which could predict clinical outcome, prognosis and mortality were investigated. BACKGROUND Published studies on chest CT in COVID-19 infection do not go beyond describing the characteristics of the current period. Nevertheless, comparative analysis of chest CT findings on hospital admission among patients in different clinical outcomes is scarce. OBJECTIVE 198 consecutive symptomatic patients with COVID-19 infection confirmed by positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and who had undergone chest CT were enrolled in this retrospective study. METHOD According to their clinical outcomes, we divided them (n:98) into 3 groups. Group 1 (n: 62) involved patients discharged from the service, group 2 (n: 60) included patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit, and group 3 (n: 76) comprised patients who died despite any treatment. RESULTS Clinical characteristics involving age, dyspnea, hypertension, and chest CT findings of mediastinal lymphadenopathy, pleural effusion, and pericardial effusion, were determined as poor prognosis and mortality predictors, and halo sign in chest CT finding was a good prognosis predictor in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION It was seen that some CT findings were significantly correlated to the patients' endpoints, such as discharge, hospitalization in the intensive care unit, and as a worst consequence, death. These findings support the role of CT imaging for potentially predicting the clinical outcomes of these patients with COVID-19.