CT chest findings in patients infected with COVID-19: review of literature

Hefeda, Mohamed Mohamed

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious disease causing severe respiratory distress syndrome that was first discovered by the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China. MAIN TEXT: A wide variety of CT findings in COVID-19 have been reported in different studies, and the CT findings differ according to the stage of the disease and disease severity and associated co-morbidities. We will discuss each sign separately and its importance in diagnosis and prognosis. CONCLUSION: CT plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 pneumonia. The typical appearance of COVID-19 pneumonia is bilateral patchy areas of ground glass infiltration, more in the lower lobes. The appearance of other signs like consolidation, air bronchogram, crazy pavement appearance, and air bubble signs appear during the course of the disease. In the context of pandemic, the CT chest can be used as a screening tool in symptomatic patients as it is cheaper, available, and time saving.