Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Systematic Review of Imaging Findings in 919 Patients

March 14, 2020

Sana Salehi, Aidin Abedi, Sudheer Balakrishnan, Ali Gholamrezanezhad.

American Journal of Roentgenology

The review focuses on the radiological manifestations of COVID 19, due to the great relationship between COVID and the respiratory system, chest tomography is recommended in patients suspected of COVID both for the initial evaluation and for the evolution of the disease. A systematic search was carried out in PubMed and EMBASE in February 2020, the eligibility criteria focused on articles that spoke of the disease itself and took into account the tomographic manifestations of these patients, 919 patients were included in the final review. The most prevalent tomographic manifestations were ground glass radiopacities, bilateral involvement, peripheral distribution, multi-lobar presentation, other manifestations such as interlobular and pleural thickening, bronchiectasis, were less prevalent. Very rare manifestations such as pleural and pericardial effusion, cavitation, and pneumothorax have also been reported. Five characteristic phases are described in the evolution of the disease with its manifestations in the tomography. Each phase has characteristic tomographic manifestations. Tomography is of great importance in the diagnosis of patients with COVID 19, since cases of negative PCR have been reported, with manifestations highly suggestive of COVID, this may be due to failures in the sample collection technique. The review has certain limitations, notably the small size of the sample, the feasible information and the quality of the methodology of the studies that were taken into account to carry out this review.

Salehi, S., Abedi, A., Balakrishnan, S. and Gholamrezanezhad, A. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Systematic Review of Imaging Findings in 919 Patients. American Journal of Roentgenology, 2020; Vol: 215: 1-7

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