Diagnostic value and key features of computed tomography in Coronavirus Disease 2019
Bingjie Li, Xin Li, Yaxuan Wang, Yikai Han, Yidi Wang, Chen Wang, Guorui Zhang, Jianjun Jin, Hongxia Jia, Feifei Fan, Wang Ma, Hong Liu, Yue Zhou
Abstract
On 31 December 2019, a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, and caused the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). To date, computed tomography (CT) findings have been recommended as major evidence for the clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 in Hubei, China. This review focuses on the imaging characteristics and changes throughout the disease course in patients with COVID-19 in order to provide some help for clinicians. Typical CT findings included bilateral ground-glass opacity, pulmonary consolidation, and prominent distribution in the posterior and peripheral parts of the lungs. This review also provides a comparison between COVID-19 and other diseases that have similar CT findings. Since most patients with COVID-19 infection share typical imaging features, radiological examinations have an irreplaceable role in screening, diagnosis and monitoring treatment effects in clinical practice.