Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun:127:104359.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104359. Epub 2020 Apr 10.

Consistency analysis of COVID-19 nucleic acid tests and the changes of lung CT

Jiang Zhifeng  1 , Aiqiao Feng  2 , Tao Li  3
Affiliations

Consistency analysis of COVID-19 nucleic acid tests and the changes of lung CT

Jiang Zhifeng et al. J Clin Virol. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19, the latest outbreak of infectious disease, has caused huge medical challenges to China and the entire globe. No unified diagnostic standard has been formulated. The initial diagnosis remains based on the positive of nucleic acid tests. However, early nucleic acid tests were identified to be negative in some patients, whereas the patients exhibited characteristic CT changes of lung, and positive test results appeared after repeated nucleic acid tests, having caused the failure to diagnose these patients early. The study aimed to delve into the relationships between initial nucleic acid testing and early lung CT changes in patients with COVID-19.

Method: In accordance with the latest COVID-19 diagnostic criteria, 69 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 treated in the infected V ward of Xiaogan Central Hospital from 2020/1/25 to 2020/2/6 were retrospectively analyzed. The consistency between the first COVID-19 nucleic acid test positive and lung CT changes was studied. In addition, the sensitivity and specificity of CT and initial nucleic acid were studied.

Result: The Kappa coefficient of initial nucleic acid positive changes and lung CT changes was -1.52. With a positive nucleic acid test as the gold standard, the sensitivity of lung CT was 12.00 %, 95 % CI: 4.6-24.3; with the changes of CT as the gold standard, the sensitivity of nucleic acid positive was 30.16 %, 95 % CI: 19.2-43.0.

Conclusion: The consistency between the initial positive nucleic acid test and the CT changes in the lungs is poor; low sensitivity was achieved for initial nucleic acid detection and CT changes.

Keywords: COVID-19; Consistency; Lung CT; Nucleic acid; Sensitivity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare there are not competing interests, no funding conflict.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
xxx.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • Development of Point-of-Care Biosensors for COVID-19.
    Choi JR. Choi JR. Front Chem. 2020 May 27;8:517. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2020.00517. eCollection 2020. Front Chem. 2020. PMID: 32574316 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Thoracic imaging tests for the diagnosis of COVID-19.
    Ebrahimzadeh S, Islam N, Dawit H, Salameh JP, Kazi S, Fabiano N, Treanor L, Absi M, Ahmad F, Rooprai P, Al Khalil A, Harper K, Kamra N, Leeflang MM, Hooft L, van der Pol CB, Prager R, Hare SS, Dennie C, Spijker R, Deeks JJ, Dinnes J, Jenniskens K, Korevaar DA, Cohen JF, Van den Bruel A, Takwoingi Y, van de Wijgert J, Wang J, Pena E, Sabongui S, McInnes MD; Cochrane COVID-19 Diagnostic Test Accuracy Group. Ebrahimzadeh S, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 May 16;5(5):CD013639. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013639.pub5. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022. PMID: 35575286 Free PMC article.
  • False-negative results of initial RT-PCR assays for COVID-19: A systematic review.
    Arevalo-Rodriguez I, Buitrago-Garcia D, Simancas-Racines D, Zambrano-Achig P, Del Campo R, Ciapponi A, Sued O, Martinez-García L, Rutjes AW, Low N, Bossuyt PM, Perez-Molina JA, Zamora J. Arevalo-Rodriguez I, et al. PLoS One. 2020 Dec 10;15(12):e0242958. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242958. eCollection 2020. PLoS One. 2020. PMID: 33301459 Free PMC article.
  • Optimizing microfluidic chip for rapid SARS-CoV-2 detection using Taguchi method and artificial neural network PSO.
    Kaziz S, Echouchene F, Gazzah MH. Kaziz S, et al. Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 23;15(1):14052. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-98304-5. Sci Rep. 2025. PMID: 40269048 Free PMC article.
  • SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An overview.
    Acuti Martellucci C, Flacco ME, Cappadona R, Bravi F, Mantovani L, Manzoli L. Acuti Martellucci C, et al. Adv Biol Regul. 2020 Aug;77:100736. doi: 10.1016/j.jbior.2020.100736. Epub 2020 Jun 17. Adv Biol Regul. 2020. PMID: 32773099 Free PMC article. Review.
See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Corman V.M., Landt O., Kaiser M. Detection of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by real-time RT-PCR. Euro Surveill. 2020;25(January (3)) - PMC - PubMed
    1. Huang C., Wang Y., Li X. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet. 2020 Jan 24. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jin Y.H., Cai L., Cheng Z.S. A rapid advice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infected pneumonia (standard version) Mil. Med. Res. 2020;7(February (1)):4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Li L., Ren M.J., Zhang Y.Y., Li W.Q., Zhao H.Y., Liang L.C. Lung CT image of a confirmed case of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infected pneumonia (With differential diagnosis of the SARS) Yixue Xinzhi. 2020;30(1):4–6. [Article in China]
    1. General Office of National Health Committee. Office of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine . 2020. Notice on the Issuance of a Programme for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Infected Pneumonia (Trial Version 4)

MeSH terms