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Intensity-Based Computation Tomography (CT) Evaluation of Temporal Changes in Lung Abnormalities During the Recovery Stage in COVID-19 In-Hospital Patients
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Research Square Platform LLC, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Background: The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) and its variants have increased rapidly worldwide since December 2019, with respiratory disease being a prominent complication. As such, optimizing evaluation methods and identifying factors predictive of disease progress remain critical. The purpose of the study was to assess late phase (≥3 weeks) pulmonary changes using intensity-based computed tomography (CT) scoring in COVID-19 patients and determine the clinical characteristics predicting lung abnormalities and recovery.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on 42 patients (14 males, 28 females; age 65±10 years) with COVID-19. Only patients with at least 3 CT scans taken at least 3 weeks after initial symptom onset were included in the study. Two scoring methods were assessed: (1) area-based scoring (ABS) and (2) intensity-weighted scoring (IWS). Temporal changes in the average lung lesion were evaluated by the calculating the averaged area under the curve (AUC) of the CT score-time curve. Correlations between averaged AUCs and clinical characteristics were determined. Results: Using the ABS system, temporal changes in lung abnormalities during recovery were highly variable (P=0.934). By contrast, the IWS system detected more subtle changes in lung abnormalities during in COVID-19 patients, with consistent week-to-week relative reductions in IWS (P=0.025). Strong relationships were observed with D-dimer and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels on admission, with hazard ratios (HR)(95%CI) of 5.32 (1.25-22.6)(P=0.026) and 1.05 (1.10-1.09)(P=0.017), respectively. Conclusion: Our results suggest COVID-19-mediated pulmonary abnormalities persist well-beyond 3-weeks of symptom onset, with intensity-weighted rather than area-based scoring being more sensitive. Moreover, D-dimer and CRP levels were predictive of the recovery from the disease.
Details
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........ced717dc884143413fb296ea99809dbb
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-828967/v1