Sensitivity and Features of Computed Tomography in Diagnosis of COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Meta-analysis
Published: February 1, 2021 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2021/47449.14570
Awadia Gareeballah, Moawia Gameraddin, Sultan Abdulwadoud Alshoabi, Lubna Bushara, Ikhlas Abdelaziz, Hanan Elnour
1. Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiologic Technology, Taibah University, Almadinah, Saudi Arabia.
2. Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiologic Technology, Taibah University, Almadinah, Saudi Arabia.
3. Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiologic Technology, Taibah University, Almadinah, Saudi Arabia.
4. Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
5. Associate Professor, Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
6. Assistant Professor, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Correspondence
Moawia Gameraddin,
Taibah University, Faculty of Apllied Medical Sciences, Almadinah,Almadinah Amunawarah, Saudi Arabia.
E-mail: m.bushra@yahoo.com
Introduction: Early diagnosis of COVID-19 is important for disease treatment and management. Computed Tomography (CT) is a fast and easy modality for diagnosis and management plan of patients with COVID-19. In the literature, several studies were done to assess the sensitivity of CT for diagnosis of COVID-19 infection in comparison to Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Some studies stated that CT was more sensitive diagnostic modality for COVID-19 than RT-PCR. However, the sensitivity of CT for COVID-19 varies in these studies.
Aim: This literature review and meta-analysis was designed to determine the CT features of COVID-19 pneumonia, to verify the pooled sensitivity of CT for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and to review the different reasons (e.g., the disease stage or severity and the negative or positive RT-PCR results) for the variations in CT sensitivity.
Materials and Methods: This review analysed 31 articles selected from the Europe BMC, PubMed, Science Direct, and Scopus databases. Participant gender mean and median age, CT features of COVID-19 pneumonia were sought for and reviewed. The data was analysed using Microsoft excel version 10 and OpenMeta (Analyst) software (http://www.cebm. brown.edu/openmeta/) to verify the pooled sensitivity of CT in detection and diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia using meta-analyses forest plot, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, cumulative meta-analyses forest plot and leave one forest plot.
Results: The most common CT findings of COVID-19 pneumonia were bilateral lung involvement, Ground Glass Opacity (GGO), and consolidation, and Crazy-paving pattern. The CT finding is more prominent in symptomatic and severe cases than in a symptomatic and mild cases specifically the presence of consolidation and peripherals lesion distribution. The pooled sensitivity of CT is 90% in diagnosis and detection of COVID-19 pneumonia (ranged 60-100%).
Conclusion: Combination of CT chest and laboratory tests along with clinical manifestation and epidemiological features should be considered to confirm the final diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia.
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