A STUDY OF CORRELATION OF HRCT THORAX AND RTPCR TESTING IN ATYPICAL PNEUMONIA PATIENTS

Abstract

Introduction: Our aim is to correlate the outcome of patients, RTPCR testing with COVID-19 infection with the 25-point CT severity score by Chang et al. (devised for assessment of ARDS in patients with SARS in 2005). Materials and Methods: Data of 200 consecutive symptomatic patients who were suspected to have COVID-19 infection and presented to Internal Medicine wards, dedicated ICU were collected. All patients underwent two consecutive RT-PCR tests and had a HRCT scan done at presentation. Results: In the present study, from total number of participants (n=200) there are 55.50% male participants and 44.50% female participants. Age ranges of the patients from 35 year to 84year. The mean age of study participants was found to be 60.37± 11.30 years. In our study majority of patients belonged to moderate and severe CT category (45% and 44.5% respectively) and a small portion of mild category (10.5%). Our study showed significant association between CT severity grading and biomarkers level. Less severe CT results were connected with better outcomes, while more severe scan results were associated with a higher death rate. In our study, 56 patients (28%) out of 200 died. Death rates range from 4.76% (1/21) for the light group to 23.33% (21/90) and 28% (34/89) for the moderate and severe categories, respectively. (p = 0.003). Conclusion: The COVID-19 severity and the 25-point CT severity score are highly correlated. Our findings indicate that the COVID-19 illness prognosis can be predicted with the help of the chest CT scoring system, which has a strong relationship with laboratory results and oxygen consumption.

Keywords: Atypical pneumonia, COVID'19, CT, severity score, HRCT thorax