Men and women affected by Sars-CoV-2 pneumonia: same CT features but different outcome

Percivale, I.; Danna, P.S.C.; Falaschi, Z.; Berardo, S.; Gangi, S.; Tricca, S.; Castello, L. M.; Barini, M.; Airoldi, C.; Carriero, A.

Aim To compare the computed tomography (CT) features of Sars-CoV-2 pneumonia between the two sexes and among different age groups. Materials and methods Consecutive patients (n=331) who presented to the emergency department and underwent chest CT and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with a time interval <7 days), which were subsequently found to be consistent with Sars-CoV-2 infection, were enrolled retrospectively. Two experienced radiologists evaluated the images in consensus, recording the number of pulmonary lobes with ground-glass opacities and with consolidation. A CT score was subsequently calculated based on the percentage involvement of each lobe. Clinical symptoms, comorbidities, and level of required hospitalisation were noted. In-hospital mortality was recorded and analysed via the Kaplan–Meier estimator. Results Males and females had the same age distribution. No statistically significant difference was found in the analysed CT features and in the CT score (p=0.31) between the sexes. More females were affected by two or more comorbidities (17.1% versus 7.5%, p=0.024), all comorbidities except diabetes were more prevalent in females. Women had a higher probability to be discharged home and a lower probability to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU; p=0.008), in-hospital mortality was inferior (13.5% versus 22%). Conclusion Despite more comorbidities, women had lower hospital admission and mortality, which was independent of CT findings between both sexes.