Typical and Atypical Chest Computed Tomography Manifestatons in (COVID-19) Patients

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) was informed in December 2019, of multiple incidents of a respiratory illness of unknown origin in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, with clinical symptoms similar to viral pneumonia and symptoms such as fever, cough,fatigue and dyspnea. The WHO has declared this outbreak a global health emergency as of January 30, 2020. Despite its reduced specificity, chest computed tomography (CT), as reported in several scientific research, shown good sensitivity, suggesting that it may aid in the early identification, treatment, and follow-up of COVID-19 pneumonia. Patients affected by COVID-19 pneumonia usually showed on chest CT some typical features, such as: Bilateral ground glass opacities characterised by multilobar involvement with posterior and peripheral distribution; parenchymal combination of GGOs with consolidations, and GGOs superimposed with interlobular/intralobular septal thickening creating a “crazy-paving” pattern, subsegmental pulmonary vessels enlargement (> 3 mm). Atypical features of COVID-19 pneumonia include halo sign, inverted halo sign, cavitation, and pleural or pericardial effusion. On the other hand, the prevalence of lymphadenopathy and bronchiectasis is unknown, with different data emerging in the literature.