CLINICAL APPLICATION OF COVID-19 REPORTING AND DATA SYSTEM IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY OF BILATERAL PNEUMONIA DIAGNOSTIC

Ugnė Kulnickaitė, Laura Dobrovaitė, Kamilė Grigaitė, Edvardas Jukna

Background: the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) has spread at an astonishing speed across the world, causing major morbidity and mortality. Computed tomography (CT) examination plays an important role in crisis areas in the diagnosis of COVID-19. COVID-19 Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) has a five-point scale of suspicion for COVID-19 pneumonia in chest CT picture which standardizes the evaluation scheme and simplifies reporting.

Aim: to summarise and present the role of COVID-19 Reporting and Data System in computed tomography of bilateral pneumonia diagnostic.

Materials and methods: recently published studies were reviewed to evaluate COVID-19 Reporting and Data System scale as effective tool to detect COVID-19 pneumonia on chest CT scans. Databases from the subscription list of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences were selected: Medline (PubMed), SpringerLink and ScienceDirect.

Results: chest CT features, as bilateral involvement, subpleural or peripherally distributed GGO, consolidation, reticulation, crazy paving pattern, air bronchogram signs, intralobular septal thickening, pulmonary vascular enlargement, are considered to be characteristic manifestations of COVID-19 infection. Studies show that Dutch Radiological Society presented CO-RADS scale sensitivity and specificity may vary from 61-88% and 66,4-98%, respectively.

Conclusion: chest CT scan has a high sensitivity for COVID-19 diagnosis and could reduce false negative results obtained from RT-PCR tests. Furthermore, a standardized reporting system could increase clarification, minimize reporting variability and help radiologists recognize the results they observe, especially, for less experienced specialists.