Initial chest radiograph scores inform COVID-19 status, intensive care unit admission and need for mechanical ventilation

Shen, B.; Hoshmand-Kochi, M.; Abbasi, A.; Glass, S.; Jiang, Z.; Singer, A. J.; Thode, H. C.; Li, H.; Hou, W.; Duong, T. Q.

Aim To evaluate whether portable chest radiography (CXR) scores are associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) status and various clinical outcomes. Materials and methods This retrospective study included 500 initial CXR from COVID-19-suspected patients. Each CXR was scored based on geographic extent and degree of opacity as indicators of disease severity. COVID-19 status and clinical outcomes including intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation, mortality, length of hospitalisation, and duration on ventilator were collected. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between CXR scores and COVID-19 status, CXR scores and clinical outcomes, adjusted for code status, age, gender and co-morbidities. Results The interclass correlation coefficients amongst raters were 0.94 and 0.90 for the extent score and opacity score, respectively. CXR scores were significantly (p<0.01) associated with COVID-19 positivity (odd ratio [OR] = 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.27–1.75 for extent score and OR=1.75; 95% CI: 1.42–2.15 for opacity score), ICU admission (OR=1.19; 95% CI: 1.09–1.31 for extent score and 1.26; 95% CI: 1.10–1.44 for opacity score), and invasive mechanical ventilation (OR=1.22; 95% CI: 1.11–1.35 for geographic score and 1.21; 95% CI: 1.051.38 for opacity score). CXR scores were not significantly different between survivors and non-survivors after adjusting for code status (p>0.05). CXR scores were not associated with length of hospitalisation or duration on ventilation (p>0.05). Conclusions Initial CXR scores have prognostic value and are associated with COVID-19 positivity, ICU admission, and mechanical ventilation.