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. 2020;99(9):748-754.
doi: 10.1159/000509334. Epub 2020 Sep 7.

Chest Computed Tomography Findings in Asymptomatic Patients with COVID-19

Min Cheol Chang  1 , Wonho Lee  2 , Jian Hur  3 , Donghwi Park  4
Affiliations

Chest Computed Tomography Findings in Asymptomatic Patients with COVID-19

Min Cheol Chang et al. Respiration. 2020.

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the damage to the respiratory system in asymptomatic patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Objective: Herein, we evaluate the findings of chest computed tomography (CT) and radiography in patients with COVID-19 who were asymptomatic.

Methods: We retrospectively investigated patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 but who did not show any symptoms. Among the 139 patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized in Yeungnam University Hopistal in Daegu, South Korea, 10 (7.2%) were asymptomatic. Their chest CT and radiographic findings were analyzed.

Results: In the results, all patients (100%) had ground-glass opacity (GGO) on chest CT. Further, the GGO lesions were predominantly distributed peripherally and posteriorly in all patients. In 9 (90%) patients, the GGO lesions were combined with reticular opacity. Air bronchogram due to bronchiolectasis surrounded by GGO was observed in 8 patients (80%). Additionally, the lung lesions were dominant on the right side in all patients.

Conclusions: In conclusion, considering our results that the lung is affected in asymptomatic patients, it will be necessary to extend the indications of COVID-19 testing for effective management of COVID-19 during the pandemic.

Keywords: Asymptomatic patient; COVID-19; Computed tomography; Radiography; Radiologic finding.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Chest CT and radiographic images of each patient. Patient No. 1–10 (a–j, respectively). Black arrows: GGO and/or reticular opacity. Red arrows: air bronchogram (bronchiolectasis with surrounding GGO and/or reticular opacity). Blue arrows: crazy paving appearance. Green arrows: subpleural linear opacity. Red arrow: GGO in chest radiographs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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