Diagnostic Accuracy of High-Resolution CT in Early Diagnosis of COVID-19 Patients with Comparison to Reverse Transcriptase-PCR

Usman Khan
Sana Sharif
Fareeha Khalid
Asif Rehman
Hussain Rashid
Issue Details
Journal ID 1
Volume 11
Number 2
Year 2021
Issue Date 2021-04-05 00:00:00
DOI
Copyright Holder Journal of Bahria University Medical and Dental College
Copyright Year 2021
Keywords:
Abstract:
Objective: To determine the accuracy of high-resolution CT (HRCT) in early diagnosis of COVID-19 in comparison to
Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR).
Study Design and Setting: This was a retrospective study, conducted in Department of Radiology, PNS Shifa Hospital,
Karachi from April 2020 to June 2020.
Methodology: A total of 115 patients were included in the study who presented with symptoms. Patient’s data such as
demographic details, clinical presentations, RT-PCR reports and HRCT reports were collected from the record of the
hospital. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS-25.
Results: Out of 115 study participants, 98(85.2%) were male and 17(14.8%) were female with the average age of 50.53
(±18.64) years. Fever along with cough was the most common clinical presentation, presented by 91(79.1%) subjects. In
comparison to RT-PCR, sensitivity of HRCT was 96.2%, its specificity standing at 60% with the overall accuracy of 93.19%.
Moreover, mortality Rate of these symptomatic patients was 11.30% (13 out of 115). The average age of the expired patients
was 67.07 (±11.45) years and the age of discharged patients was 48.31 (±17.92) years. The difference in age was statistically
significant (p-value <0.001).
Conclusion: Highly specific and sensitive diagnostic tests for COVID-19 have not yet been developed. High resolution
CT chest has high sensitivity for early diagnosis of COVID-19, hence HRCT should be incorporated as a primary tool in
assessment criteria of hospitalized patients for early diagnosis of COVID-19.

Published: 2021-04-05

Last Modified: 2021-10-27 01:20:07