Use of Chest CT in Combination with Negative RT-PCR Assay for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus but High Clinical Suspicion
Peikai Huang, Tianzhu Liu, Lesheng Huang, Hailong Liu, Ming Lei, Wangdong Xu, Xiaolu Hu, Jun Chen, Bo Liu
Abstract
nucleic acid assay was also negative at this time.Six days after admission, the third RT-PCR 2019-nCoV nucleic acid assay was finally found to be positive.When specimen tests are negative, the possibility of a false-negative result should be considered in the context of a patient's recent exposures and the presence of clinical signs and symptoms consistent with 2019-nCoV infection (1,2).In this case, chest CT findings were typical of findings for 2019-nCoV pneumonia (3) coupled with recent exposure suggesting that 2019-nCoV infection was likely.Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest: P.H. disclosed no relevant relationships.T.L. disclosed no relevant relationships.L.