HIGH RESOLUTION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (HRCT) CHEST FINDINGS IN COVID-19 PATIENTS IN RELATION TO DURATION OF INFECTION IN A TERTIARY CARE PRIVATE HOSPITAL IN CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH

Dr. Justin Clump*, Dr. Diana Thecla D Rozario, Dr. Shabiha Quadir, Dr. Kazi Mohammad Moin Uddin, Dr. Fahmida Nahid, Dr. Md Ubaidul Islam and Dr. Durga Devee Sarker

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To determine the radiological imaging features in chest HRCT of COVID-19 patients at different stages of the course of illness. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 70 patients with real-time polymerase chain reaction–confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted into a tertiary care private hospital in Chittagong, Bangladesh, between June 2020 to July 2020. HRCT chest of these patients were done and findings were evaluated in relation to different stages of the course of infection. Results: Seventy patients (45 men and 25 women with mean age of 53.5 years and SD 15.6) with confirmed COVID-19 were evaluated. The hallmarks of COVID-19 infection in HRCT included GGO, GGO and consolidation, GGO and crazy paving and consolidation with parenchymal bands. All patients in the early stage (0-4 days of symptoms), showed only GGO, in the progressive stage (5-8 days of illness) maximum patients showed GGO with crazy paving (36% ), in the peak stage (9-13 days of illness) majority patients (48.3%) showed GGO and consolidation, while in the absorption stage (> 14days of illness) maximum patients (66.67%) showed consolidation with parenchymal bands. Almost all patients included in this study showed bilateral, peripheral and multi-lobar lung involvement. Conclusion: Chest HRCT of COVID-19 patients shows significant patterns of opacity in different stages of the course of illness. These patterns of HRCT findings are very much helpful for detecting COVID-19 pneumonia.

Keywords: High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT), Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19), Ground Glass Opacity (GGO), Crazy paving, Consolidation, Parenchymal bands.