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. 2021 Oct;126(10):1258-1272.
doi: 10.1007/s11547-021-01385-1. Epub 2021 Jul 1.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the selection of chest imaging modalities and reporting systems: a survey of Italian radiologists

Andrea Borghesi  1 , Nicola Sverzellati  2 , Roberta Polverosi  3 , Maurizio Balbi  2 , Elisa Baratella  4 , Marco Busso  5 , Lucio Calandriello  6 , Giancarlo Cortese  7 , Alessandra Farchione  6 , Roberto Iezzi  6   8 , Stefano Palmucci  9 , Ilaria Pulzato  10 , Cristiano Rampinelli  11 , Chiara Romei  12 , Adele Valentini  13 , Roberto Grassi  14   15 , Anna Rita Larici  6   8
Affiliations

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the selection of chest imaging modalities and reporting systems: a survey of Italian radiologists

Andrea Borghesi et al. Radiol Med. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: Chest imaging modalities play a key role for the management of patient with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the optimal chest imaging approach in the evaluation of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, and radiology departments tend to use different approaches. Thus, the main objective of this survey was to assess how chest imaging modalities have been used during the different phases of the first COVID-19 wave in Italy, and which diagnostic technique and reporting system would have been preferred based on the experience gained during the pandemic.

Material and methods: The questionnaire of the survey consisted of 26 questions. The link to participate in the survey was sent to all members of the Italian Society of Medical and Interventional Radiology (SIRM).

Results: The survey gathered responses from 716 SIRM members. The most notable result was that the most used and preferred chest imaging modality to assess/exclude/monitor COVID-19 pneumonia during the different phases of the first COVID-19 wave was computed tomography (51.8% to 77.1% of participants). Additionally, while the narrative report was the most used reporting system (55.6% of respondents), one-third of participants would have preferred to utilize structured reporting systems.

Conclusion: This survey shows that the participants' responses did not properly align with the imaging guidelines for managing COVID-19 that have been made by several scientific, including SIRM. Therefore, there is a need for continuing education to keep radiologists up to date and aware of the advantages and limitations of the chest imaging modalities and reporting systems.

Keywords: COVID-19; Diagnostic imaging; SARS-CoV-2; Surveys and questionnaires.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Bar chart showing the participants’ responses (%) on the chest imaging modalities used (left) and preferred (right) during the different phases of the first COVID-19 wave in Italy. CXR, chest X-ray; LUS, lung ultrasonography; CT, computed tomography
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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