tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Open Forum Infect Dis
. 2020 Jun 25;7(7)
faa252.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa252. eCollection 2020 Jul.
The Clinical and Radiological Manifestations in Coronavirus Disease 2019 With Negative Nucleic Acid Results
Guanjing Lang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Junwei Su[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wenrui Wu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hong Zhao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Shihong Ying[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Haiyan Lou[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Xiaomin Shen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael T Yin[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Kaijin Xu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jun Liu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Cheng Ren[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jifang Sheng[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a new emerging disease with high infectiousness. Its diagnosis primarily depended on real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results. This study investigated epidemiological, clinical, and radiological characteristics of COVID-19 with negative RT-PCR results before confirmation.
Methods: Patients with COVID-19 were enrolled and divided into 2 groups: a negative group with negative RT-PCR results before confirmation and a positive group with positive results at the first detection. Epidemiological and clinical features were compared. Dynamic chest computerized tomography (CT) images of the negative group were evaluated.
Results: Ninety-nine laboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19 including 8 patients (8%) with negative RT-PCR results were included. Patients from the negative group had similar epidemiological features: the average age (50.25 ? 13.27 years in the negative group and 53.70 ? 16.64 years in the positive group) and gender distribution (males made up 50% of the negative group and 62.6% of the positive group) were comparable. No significant differences were observed in clinical symptoms between the 2 groups. We found that fever was the most common symptom for both groups, followed by cough, expectoration, chest distress, fatigue, and gastroenterological symptoms. Moreover, ground-glass opacities and consolidations were the main manifestation in chest CT of patients with COVID-19 with or without confirmed RT-PCR results.
Conclusions: Regardless of initial RT-PCR results, patients with COVID-19 had similar epidemiological, clinical, and chest CT features. Our study suggests value from early chest CT scans in COVID-19 screening and dynamic significance of radiology in disease monitoring should guide clinical decisions.
Keywords: COVID-19; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2; chest CT; early diagnosis.
. 2020 Jun 25;7(7)
faa252.doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa252. eCollection 2020 Jul.
The Clinical and Radiological Manifestations in Coronavirus Disease 2019 With Negative Nucleic Acid Results
Guanjing Lang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Junwei Su[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wenrui Wu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hong Zhao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Shihong Ying[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Haiyan Lou[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Xiaomin Shen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael T Yin[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Kaijin Xu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jun Liu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Cheng Ren[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jifang Sheng[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 32704513
- PMCID: PMC7337757
- DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa252
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a new emerging disease with high infectiousness. Its diagnosis primarily depended on real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results. This study investigated epidemiological, clinical, and radiological characteristics of COVID-19 with negative RT-PCR results before confirmation.
Methods: Patients with COVID-19 were enrolled and divided into 2 groups: a negative group with negative RT-PCR results before confirmation and a positive group with positive results at the first detection. Epidemiological and clinical features were compared. Dynamic chest computerized tomography (CT) images of the negative group were evaluated.
Results: Ninety-nine laboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19 including 8 patients (8%) with negative RT-PCR results were included. Patients from the negative group had similar epidemiological features: the average age (50.25 ? 13.27 years in the negative group and 53.70 ? 16.64 years in the positive group) and gender distribution (males made up 50% of the negative group and 62.6% of the positive group) were comparable. No significant differences were observed in clinical symptoms between the 2 groups. We found that fever was the most common symptom for both groups, followed by cough, expectoration, chest distress, fatigue, and gastroenterological symptoms. Moreover, ground-glass opacities and consolidations were the main manifestation in chest CT of patients with COVID-19 with or without confirmed RT-PCR results.
Conclusions: Regardless of initial RT-PCR results, patients with COVID-19 had similar epidemiological, clinical, and chest CT features. Our study suggests value from early chest CT scans in COVID-19 screening and dynamic significance of radiology in disease monitoring should guide clinical decisions.
Keywords: COVID-19; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2; chest CT; early diagnosis.