| خلاصه مقاله | Introduction: In December 2019, a human virus species, called coronavirus 2019, was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. RT-PCR is the standard method of diagnosing coronavirus disease with high specificity but its sensitivity is low [1, 2]. Computed tomography (CT) scan imaging can serve as an aid to early detection and can compensate the low PCR sensitivity. CT sensitivity is high and about 88% -98%, and specificity of CT has been reported about 34%. Moreover, CT is a feasible modality with short scanning time, and high throughput [1, 3-5]. Due to the importance of CT, it is necessary to recognize the typical CT features associated with COVID-19. This article reviews the COVID-19 CT features and explores differentiated diagnosis with the help of chest CT features.
Methods: Articles related to COVID-19 CT scan imaging were searched in Scientific Databases such as Google Scholar, Science Direct and PubMed. Appropriated keywords selected as “COVID-19”, “CT scan”, “Pneumonia”, 'ground glass opacity', owing to the importance of COVID-19 studies and the appropriate choice of keywords, all the articles searched were strongly related to the subject of the article.
Result: The most common feature in COVID-19 infection is ground-glass opacity (GGO) pattern which is involving bilateral lungs [6]. GGO can also be progressed to consolidation [7, 8]. In the middle stage of the disease crazy paving pattern, with thickened interlobular or intralobular lines, can combine with GGO [9, 10]. Additionally, traction bronchiectasis and widening of the bronchovascular have been detected in the area of GGO in COVID-19 infections [11, 12]. According to CT scan reports, in COVID-19 probability of incidence GGO and consolidation are 88% and 32%, respectively, bilateral lung involvement is 87%, and the peripheral location of opacities is about 76% [3].
Conclusion: Most of the chest CT pattern in different viral cases of pneumonia are similar; Although a definite diagnosis cannot be achieved on the basis of imaging features alone, recognition of viral pneumonia patterns may aid in differentiated diagnosis. Moreover, quantitative image analysis methods such as Radiomics and Radiogenomics may be useful. |