Chest CT features of patients under investigation for Covid-19 pneumonia in a Ghanaian tertiary hospital: a descriptive study

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has since December 2019 become a problem of global concern. Due to the virus' novelty and high infectivity, early diagnosis is key to curtailing spread. The knowledge and identification of chest Computerized Tomography (CT) features in Patients Under Investigation (PUI) for the disease would help in its management and containment. OBJECTIVES: To describe the chest CT findings of PUI for COVID-19 pneumonia referred to the Department of Radiology of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital; as well as to determine the relationship between symptom onset and severity of the chest CT findings. METHODS: The study was retrospective and included 63 PUI for COVID-19 referred to the Department between 11(th) April, 2020 and 10(th) June, 2020, for non-enhanced chest CT imaging. Clinical data were obtained from patients' records and Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) results were acquired after the CT evaluation. RESULTS: The mean age in years was 51.1±19.9 SD. More males (52.8%) than females (47.2%) tested positive for COVID-19 and the age range for positive cases was 7 months to 86 years, with a mean of 53.2±21 SD years. Common features of COVID-19 pneumonia were bilateral posterior basal consolidations, Ground Glass Opacities (GGO) and air bronchograms. Findings were worse in patients scanned 5–9 days after onset of symptoms. CONCLUSION: Adequate knowledge of chest CT features of COVID-19 pneumonia, proves a valuable resource in triaging of symptomatic patients and consequent containment of the disease in the hospital setting. FUNDING: None declared