Search

Objective: There is still no diagnosis method with high sensitivity and specificity for COVID-19. Patient complaints, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), inflammatory markers, clinical prognosis, and the degree of involvement in the chest CT, if necessary are evaluated in an effort to make a diagnosis. Delays in diagnosis have led to a rapid spread of the disease. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the inflammatory markers and to determine the follow-up process of the patients by assessing the impact of the treatments administered on RT-PCR test results. Material and methods: Files of 150 patients monitored in the wards with suspected COVID-19 are analyzed retrospectively. Patients were selected among those who underwent laboratory tests, RT-PCR testing and Thoracic CT within the first 24 hours of admission. Patients were divided into 5 groups based on the severity of involvement in Thoracic CT. Inflammatory markers were compared among the groups. Impact of the administered treatments on follow-up RT-PCR test results was evaluated. Results: Studied inflammatory markers were in normal ranges and similar across all CORADS groups. Only the C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and Ferritin levels were showing an increase in accordance with CORADS severity. Mean time to testing negative on RT-PCR was 10 days across all treatment groups. Times to testing negative among patients receiving other treatments were similar. Conclusion: Among the inflammatory markers, CRP and Ferritin values are correlated with CORADS severity. Administered COVID-19 treatments have similar impact on RT-PCR test results.

Aim: The study aimed to assess the relationships between serum cytokine levels and pulmonary dysfunctions in individuals with COVID-19. These correlations may help to suggest strategies for prevention and therapies of coronavirus disease. Patients and methods: Fifty healthy participants and one hundred COVID-19 patients participated in this study. COVID-19 participants were subdivided into moderate and severe groups based on the severity of their symptoms. In both patients and healthy controls, white blood cells (WBCs) and lymphocytes counts and serum C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-18, and IL-35 levels were estimated. All the patients were examined by chest computed tomography (CT) and the COVID-19 Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) score was assessed. Results: All COVID-19 patients had increased WBCs count and CRP, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-18, and IL-35 serum levels than healthy controls. Whereas WBCs, CRP, and cytokines like IL-6 showed significantly higher levels in the severe group as compared to moderate patients, IL-4, IL-35, and IL-18 showed comparable levels in both disease groups. Lymphocytes count in all patient groups exhibited a significant decrease as compared to the heathy controls and it was significantly lower in severe COVID-19 than moderate. Furthermore, CO-RADS score was positively connected with WBCs count as well as CRP and cytokine (IL-35, IL-18, IL-6, IL-4 and IL-1β) levels in both groups. CO-RADS score, also demonstrated a positive correlation with lymphocytes count in the moderate COVID-19 patients, whereas it demonstrated a negative correlation in the severe patients. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that IL-1β, IL-4, IL-18, and IL-35 were fair (acceptable) predictors for COVID-19 in moderate cases. Whereas IL-6 was good predictor of COVID-19 in severe cases (AUC > 0.800), IL-18 and IL-35 were fair. Conclusion: Severe COVID-19 patients, compared to individuals with moderate illness and healthy controls, had lower lymphocyte counts and increased CRP with greater WBCs counts. In contrast to moderate COVID-19 patients, severe COVID-19 patients had higher levels of IL-6, but IL-4, IL-18, and IL-35 between both illness categories were at close levels. IL-6 level was the most potent predictor of COVID-19 progress and severity. CO-RADS 5 was the most frequent category in both moderate and severe cases. Patients with a typical CO-RADS involvement had a higher CRP and cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-4, IL-18, and IL-35) levels and WBCs count with a lower lymphocyte number than the others. Cytokine and CRP levels as well as WBCs and lymphocyte counts were considered surrogate markers of severe lung affection and pneumonia in COVID 19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aims to determine whether COVID19 patients with different initial reverse transcriptasepolymerase chain reaction (RTPCR), computed tomography (CT) and laboratory findings have different clinical outcomes. Materials and Methods: In this multicenter retrospective cohort study, 895 hospitalized patients with the diagnosis of COVID19 were included. According to the RTPCR positivity and presence of CT findings, the patients were divided into four groups. These groups were compared in terms of mortality and need for intensive care unit (ICU). According to the COVID19 Reporting and Data System (CORADS), all patients' CT images were staged. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between CORADS and predictive inflammation and coagulation parameters. Results: RTPCR test positivity was 51.5%, the CT finding was 70.7%, and 49.7% of the patients were in the CORADS 5 stage. The need for ICU and mortality rates was higher in the group with only CT findings compared to the group with only RTPCR positivity, (14.9% vs. 4.0%, p < 0.001; 9.3% vs. 3.3%, p > 0.05; respectively). Mortality was 3.27 times higher in patients with CORADS 4 compared to those with CORADS 1-2. Being in the CORADS 4 stage and LDH were discovered to be the most efficient parameters in determining mortality risk. Conclusion: Performing only the RTPCR test in the initial evaluation of patients in SARSCoV2 infection may lead to overlooking groups that are more at risk for severe disease. The use of a chest CT to perform CORADS staging would be beneficial in terms of providing both diagnostic and prognostic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is continuing. The disease most commonly affects the lungs. Since the beginning of the pandemic thorax computed tomography (CT) has been an indispensable imaging method for diagnosis and follow-up. The disease is tried to be controlled with vaccines. Vaccination reduces the possibility of a severe course of the disease., Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate whether the vaccination status of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 has an effect on the CT severity score (CT-SS) and CORADS score obtained during hospitalization., Methods: The files of patients hospitalized between April 1, 2021 and April 1, 2022 due to COVID-19 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 224 patients who were older than 18 years of age, whose vaccination status was accessible, whose severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 polymerase chain reaction result was positive, and who had a Thorax CT scan during hospitalization were included in the study., Results: Among the patients included in the study, 52.2% were female and the mean age was 61.85 years. The patients applied to the hospital on the average 7 th day of their complaints. While 63 patients were unvaccinated (Group 1), 20 were vaccinated with a single dose of CoronaVac (Group 2), 24 with a single dose of BioNTech (Group 3), 38 with 2 doses of CoronaVac (Group 4), 40 with 2 doses of BioNTech (Group 5), and 39 with 3 doses of vaccine (2 doses of CoronaVac followed by a single dose of BioNTech, Group 6). CT-SS ranged from 5 to 23, with a mean of 12.17.CT-SS mean of the groups were determined as 14.17, 13.35, 11.58, 10.87, 11.28, 10.85, respectively. Accordingly, as a result of the comparisons between the groups, the CT-SS levels of the unvaccinated patients found to be significantly higher than the other groups. As the vaccination rates increased, the rate of typical COVID-19 findings on CT was found to be significantly lower., Conclusion: Increased vaccination rates in COVID-19 patients reduce the probability of typical COVID-19 symptoms in the lungs. It also reduces the risk of severe disease and decreases CT Severity Scores. This may lead to a loss of importance of Thorax CT in the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia as the end of the pandemic approaches., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The alarming spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a shortage of RT-PCR kits in Uganda necessitating the use of high-resolution chest Computed Tomography to guide patient management and treatment., Main Objective: To describe the chest HRCT findings in patients with clinically suspected COVID-19 pneumonia and to compare its diagnostic accuracy to RT-PCR. ., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, chest HRCT findings of 384 patients and available RT-PCR laboratory results were reviewed and recorded in the data collection form., Results: The commonest chest HRCT findings were bilateral ground glass opacities (78.2%). Out of the 31.7% patients that took the PCR test only 26.9% tested positive. 16 out of 17 patients who tested negative, were classified under CORADS 5.The sensitivity of chest HRCT was 90.4%, 95% CI (82.6-95.5), positive predictive value of 84.2%, 95% CI (75.6-90.7), and accuracy of 77.5%, 95% CI (71.5-87.1)., Conclusions: HRCT was found superior to RT-PCR in diagnosing COVID-19. A patient with positive HRCT findings should be treated as COVID 19 when RT-PCR is inaccessible or results are negative. A patient with negative HRCT requires complimentary RT-PCR and possibly follow up CT scans if symptoms persist before treating for COVID 19., (© 2023 Nassanga R et al.)

Aim: The study aimed to assess the relationships between serum cytokine levels and pulmonary dysfunctions in individuals with COVID-19. These correlations may help to suggest strategies for prevention and therapies of coronavirus disease. Patients and methods: Fifty healthy participants and one hundred COVID-19 patients participated in this study. COVID-19 participants were subdivided into moderate and severe groups based on the severity of their symptoms. In both patients and healthy controls, white blood cells (WBCs) and lymphocytes counts and serum C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-18, and IL-35 levels were estimated. All the patients were examined by chest computed tomography (CT) and the COVID-19 Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) score was assessed. Results: All COVID-19 patients had increased WBCs count and CRP, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-18, and IL-35 serum levels than healthy controls. Whereas WBCs, CRP, and cytokines like IL-6 showed significantly higher levels in the severe group as compared to moderate patients, IL-4, IL-35, and IL-18 showed comparable levels in both disease groups. Lymphocytes count in all patient groups exhibited a significant decrease as compared to the heathy controls and it was significantly lower in severe COVID-19 than moderate. Furthermore, CO-RADS score was positively connected with WBCs count as well as CRP and cytokine (IL-35, IL-18, IL-6, IL-4 and IL-1β) levels in both groups. CO-RADS score, also demonstrated a positive correlation with lymphocytes count in the moderate COVID-19 patients, whereas it demonstrated a negative correlation in the severe patients. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that IL-1β, IL-4, IL-18, and IL-35 were fair (acceptable) predictors for COVID-19 in moderate cases. Whereas IL-6 was good predictor of COVID-19 in severe cases (AUC > 0.800), IL-18 and IL-35 were fair. Conclusion: Severe COVID-19 patients, compared to individuals with moderate illness and healthy controls, had lower lymphocyte counts and increased CRP with greater WBCs counts. In contrast to moderate COVID-19 patients, severe COVID-19 patients had higher levels of IL-6, but IL-4, IL-18, and IL-35 between both illness categories were at close levels. IL-6 level was the most potent predictor of COVID-19 progress and severity. CO-RADS 5 was the most frequent category in both moderate and severe cases. Patients with a typical CO-RADS involvement had a higher CRP and cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-4, IL-18, and IL-35) levels and WBCs count with a lower lymphocyte number than the others. Cytokine and CRP levels as well as WBCs and lymphocyte counts were considered surrogate markers of severe lung affection and pneumonia in COVID 19 patients.

Radiology has undeniably played a pivotal role in the COVID-19 pandemic. Radiologists as well as radiographers have relentlessly put their best foot forward in serving the people. Till date there are relatively few articles which describe the A-to-Z role of radiology in COVID pandemic and what a radiologist must know, suggest and report in such times. This article is a comprehensive narrative Review article with pictorial illustrations of cases from GSL medical college and hospital (COVID care centre)in India, intending to prepare and equip radiologist/resident, with the knowledge of basics to fight respiratory pandemics like COVID-19, in the present and any future respiratory pandemic. This article aims to bring under one roof comprehensively all the precious studies by various researchers all over the world, by covering all areas, seeing no leaf unturned by covering Pearls and Pitfalls of various imaging modalities, Imaging in Special groups of population, differential diagnoses of COVID, Role of radiology in non-respiratory manifestations, Post-COVID/ sequelae., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)