Cargando…

Incidentally discovered COVID-19 in low-suspicion patients—a threat to front line health care workers

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has been responsible for thousands of deaths worldwide. Testing remains at a premium, and criteria for testing remains reserved for those with lower respiratory infection symptoms and/or a known high-risk exposure. The role of imaging in COVID-19 is rapidly evolving; h...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Xiao, Nicholas, Abboud, Samir, McCarthy, Danielle M., Parekh, Nishant
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer International Publishing 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7246084/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32449100
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10140-020-01792-3
Descripción
Sumario:PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has been responsible for thousands of deaths worldwide. Testing remains at a premium, and criteria for testing remains reserved for those with lower respiratory infection symptoms and/or a known high-risk exposure. The role of imaging in COVID-19 is rapidly evolving; however, few algorithms include imaging criteria, and it is unclear what should be done in low-suspicion patients with positive imaging findings. METHODS: From 03/01/2020–03/20/2020, a retrospective review of all patients with suspected COVID-19 on imaging was performed. Imaging was interpreted by a board-certified, fellowship-trained radiologist. Patients were excluded if COVID-19 infection was suspected at the time of presentation, was the reason for imaging, or if any lower respiratory symptoms were present. RESULTS: Eight patients with suspected COVID-19 infection on imaging were encountered. Seven patients received testing due to suspicious imaging findings with subsequent lab-confirmed COVID-19. No patients endorsed prior exposure to COVID-19 or recent international travel. COVID-19 was suggested in six patients incidentally on abdominal CT and two on chest radiography. At the time of presentation, no patients were febrile, and seven endorsed gastrointestinal symptoms. Five COVID-19 patients eventually developed respiratory symptoms and required intubation. Two patients expired during the admission. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with imaging findings suspicious for COVID-19 warrant prompt reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing even in low clinical suspicion cases. The prevalence of disease in the population may be underestimated by the current paradigm of RT-PCR testing with the current clinical criteria of lower respiratory symptoms and exposure risk.