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Abstract This document from the European Society of Thoracic Imaging (ESTI) and the European Society of Radiology (ESR) discusses the role of imaging in the long-term follow-up of COVID-19 patients, to define which patients may benefit from imaging, and what imaging modalities and protocols should be used. Insights into imaging features encountered on computed tomography (CT) scans and potential pitfalls are discussed and possible areas for future review and research are also included. Key Points • Post-COVID-19 pneumonia changes are mainly consistent with prior organizing pneumonia and are likely to disappear within 12 months of recovery from the acute infection in the majority of patients. • At present, with the longest series of follow-up examinations reported not exceeding 12 months, the development of persistent or progressive fibrosis in at least some individuals cannot yet be excluded. • Residual ground glass opacification may be associated with persisting bronchial dilatation and distortion, and might be termed “fibrotic-like changes” probably consistent with prior organizing pneumonia.

Purpose Therapy response evaluation in oncological patient care requires reproducible and accurate image evaluation. Today, common standard in measurement of tumour growth or shrinkage is one-dimensional RECIST 1.1. A proposed alternative method for therapy monitoring is computer aided volumetric analysis. In lung metastases volumetry proved high reliability and accuracy in experimental studies. High reliability and accuracy of volumetry in lung metastases has been proven. However, other metastatic lesions such as enlarged lymph nodes are far more challenging. The aim of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of semi-automated volumetric analysis of lymph node metastases as a function of both slice thickness and reconstruction kernel. In addition, manual long axis diameters (LAD) as well as short axis diameters (SAD) were compared to automated RECIST measurements. Materials and methods Multislice-CT of the chest, abdomen and pelvis of 15 patients with lymph node metastases of malignant melanoma were included. Raw data were reconstructed using different slice thicknesses (1-5 mm) and varying reconstruction kernels (B20f, B40f, B60f). Volume and RECIST measurements were performed for 85 lymph nodes between 10 and 60 mm using Oncology Prototype Software (Fraunhofer MEVIS, Siemens, Germany) and were compared to a defined reference volume and diameter by calculating absolute percentage errors (APE). Variability of the lymph node sizes was computed as relative measurement differences, precision of measurements was computed as relative measurement deviation. Results Mean absolute percentage error (APE) for volumetric analysis varied between 3.95% and 13.8% and increased significantly with slice thickness. Differences between reconstruction kernels were not significant, however, a trend towards middle soft tissue kernel could be observed.. Between automated and manual short axis diameter (SAD, RECIST 1.1) and long axis diameter (LAD, RECIST 1.0) no significant differences were found. The most unsatisfactory segmentation results occurred in higher slice thickness (3 and 5 mm) and sharp tissue kernel. Conclusion Volumetric analysis of lymph nodes works satisfying in a clinical setting. Thin slice reconstructions (?3 mm) and a middle soft tissue reconstruction kernel are recommended. LAD and SAD did not show significant differences regarding APE. Automated RECIST measurement showed lower APE than manual measurement in trend.

Objective: Quantification of tumour burden in oncology requires accurate and reproducible evaluation. The current standard is RECIST measurement with its inherent disadvantages. Volumetric analysis is an alternative for therapy monitoring. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of volumetric analysis of lymph node metastases using a software prototype in a follow-up setting. Methods: MSCT was performed in 50 patients covering the chest, abdomen and pelvis. A total of 174 suspicious lymph nodes were evaluated by two radiologists regarding short axis diameters and volumetric analysis using semi-automated software. Quality of segmentation, time, maximum diameter and volume were documented. Variability of the derived change rates was computed as the standard deviation of the difference of the obtained respective change rates. Results: The software performance provides robust volumetric analysis. Quality of segmentation was rated acceptable to excellent in 76- 79% by each reader. Mean time spent per lesion was 38 s. The variability of change in effective diameters was 10.6%; for change rates of RECIST maximum diameter variability was 27.5%. Conclusion: Semi-automated volumetric analysis allows fast and convenient segmentation of most lymph node metastases. Compared with RECIST the inter-observer-variability in baseline and follow-up is reduced. This should principally allow subtle changes to be subclassified within the RECIST stable range as minor response [-15% to +10%].