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Multicenter Study
. 2021 Mar;39(3):240-245.
doi: 10.1007/s11604-020-01061-w. Epub 2020 Oct 31.

Preoperative computerized tomography screening for COVID-19 pneumonia in asymptomatic patients: experiences from two centers

Terman Gümüs  1 , Zeynep Unal Kabaoglu  2 , Bilgen Coskun  2 , Furkan Kartal  3 , Feyzi Artukoglu  4 , Kayhan Cetin Atasoy  3
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Preoperative computerized tomography screening for COVID-19 pneumonia in asymptomatic patients: experiences from two centers

Terman Gümüs et al. Jpn J Radiol. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the preoperative screening performance of chest CT (computerized tomography) examination to detect COVID-19 positive individuals.

Materials and methods: In this retrospective study 218 adult patients who had preoperative chest CT and RT-PCR were enrolled. CT imaging results, which have been reported according to the Radiological Society of North America expert consensus on COVID-19, were collected from the picture archiving and communicating system. Demographic data, planned surgeries, and postoperative outcomes were collected from the electronic patient records.

Results: One patient (0.5%) showed typical CT features for COVID-19 pneumonia; 12 patients (5.5%) were reported as indeterminate, and eight (3.7%) were reported as atypical for COVID-19 pneumonia. Only one of the three patients with positive RT-PCR had abnormalities on CT. When RT-PCR tests were taken as reference, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of chest CT in showing COVID-19 infection in asymptomatic patients were 33.3%, 90.7%, and 90.0%, respectively.

Conclusion: Chest CT screening for COVID-19 has a very low yield in asymptomatic preoperative patients and shows false-positive findings in 9.2% of cases, potentially leading to unnecessary postponing of the surgery.

Keywords: COVID-19; Chest CT; Screening.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a, b An example for a patient reported as a typical pattern for COVID-19. Axial chest CT showing (a) bilateral GGO in upper lobes and (b) in left lower lobe
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
An example for a patient reported as an indeterminate pattern for COVID-19. Axial chest CT showing focal GGO confined to the left upper lobe
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
An example for a patient reported as an atypical pattern for COVID-19. Axial chest CT showing discrete centrilobular small nodules in the left lower lobe. Other lung lobes were normal
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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