The Value of CT Quantitative Analysis in the Diagnosis of COVID-19

Objective:Study of the correlation between the CT quantitative analysis and clinical manifestation of the COVID-19 based on High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) images.Methods:We collected 38 cases of the COVID-19 patients in which 38 cases displayed positive test,and the rest of the cases were clinically proven and identified at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University.We classify patients displaying moderate clinical symptoms as non-severe patient group,and we identified the rest of the patients in the sample as severe group.By using the quantitative analysis tool Volume,we measured the following quantities,mean density (MD),Total pulmonary volume (TV),and COVID-19 infected total volume (including ground-glass opacity PI_-700~-534,senile idiopathic pulmonary interstitial fibrosis PI_-534~-188,and pulmonary consolidation with PI_>-188).We thus investigated the correlation between the oxygen saturation level and pulmonary injury level for these two groups of our sample of 38 cases of COVID-19 patients.Results:In our sample of study,we classified 30 patients as moderate group,and the rest of 8 patients as severe group.Both groups displayed insignificant distribution in age and gender with P>0.05.(1) severe group has higher volumetric Lesion volume and mean density of the infected area this includes (including PI_-700~-534,PI_-534~-188,PI_>-188).The distribution of lesions in the lungs of patients with two types is different comparing with the moderate group (P<0.05).(2) In the general group,the proportion of ground-glass lesions (PI_-700~-534) was the largest,followed by the proportion of grid-like lesions (PI_-534~-188) and the proportion of pulmonary consolidation with PI>-188 (P<0.05).In severe patients,there was no significant difference in the proportion of ground-glass lesions and grid-shaped lesions (P>0.05),but higher than the proportion of pulmonary consolidation with PI>-188 (P<0.05).(3) The distribution characteristics of lesions in the lungs of patients with different clinical types were different (P<0.05).(4) The oxygen saturation has a negative correlation with the VCOVID-19 and PI_-534~-188.(The correlation coefficients were-0.449,-0.443,respectively).Conclusion:From our study,we concluded that the CT quantitative analysis is applicable as a clinical tool to diagnose patients with COVID-19.It could also be used to measure the pathological level and lesions ranges in these patients as well.