3D CT of Patient Positive for COVID-19 Pneumonia

Researchers from Pamukkale University Medical School is Turkey have released pictures and a 3D reconstruction video from a 38-year-old COVID-19 patient. They published these results in a March 31 article in Radiology.

The patient, who presented with symptoms, including fever, shortness-of-breath, dry cough, and loss of the sense of smell, that had lasted for three days. He also reported pleuritic chest pain that had lasted for several hours. Although most routine lab values were normal, a lung exam with a stethoscope did reveal a crackling sound.

Upon undergoing an unenhanced chest CT for a preliminary pneumonia diagnosis, the patient’s images revealed peripheral, multilobar areas of ground-glass opacity. This sign suggested a new diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia. A subsequent nasopharyngeal swab with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was also COVID-19-positive, confirming the diagnosis.

The patient was hospitalized and received oxygen inhalation, hydroxycholorquine, oseltamivir, and lopinavir/ritonavir. On day 6, his fever returned to normal, and his clinical symptoms began to show improvement.

Common CT features, according to the researchers, are peripheral, bilateral, multilobar, and basal pre-dominant distributed consolidation and/or ground-glass opacities.