Spectrum of Initial Computed Tomography Findings in RT-PCR Positive Patients with Novel Coronavirus 2019 Disease – A Systematic Review of 2327 Cases

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of April 17, 2020, the total number of cases all over the world read as 2,182,823 positive cases with 145,551 deaths and 547,679 recovered cases. In India, the total number of affected cases has alarmingly increased up to 13,430, crossing the 10 thousand mark with 11,214 active cases and 1768 recovered cases. There have been multiple studies and reviews published regarding the nature of the disease, its clinical symptoms and their progression, as well as findings on chest radiography, computed tomography, and positron emission computed tomography.

A systematic literature search of the PubMed database was performed on April 8, 2020, using the suitable keywords and publications on novel coronavirus infection were also searched for in the WHO database. Only those articles published in the year 2020 were included. Data were collected, extracted, and tabulated for systematic reviewing from 26 original articles and 4 case series. The typical radiological findings on computed tomography for COVD 19 were ground-glass opacity with and without consolidation, isolated consolidation, air bronchogram, crazy paving, and interlobular septal thickening with subpleural lines.

With the progression of the disease, other atypical radiological findings are noted, such as pulmonary atelectasis, peribronchial thickening, pleural effusion, pericardial effusion, mediastinal lymphadenopathy, reverse halo or atoll sign, and tree in bud appearance with bronchiectasis. Computed tomography proved as a useful tool for screening COVID 19 cases to delineate the status and severity of lung pathology.