Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

February 6, 2020

Chest CT Findings in 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Infections from Wuhan, China: Key Points for the Radiologist

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  • Kanne reviews the current literature on chest image findings for patients with 2019-nCoV lung infections. Overall, the current review finds similarities in chest imaging among 2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV patients
  • The review supports the common radiograph finding of bilateral lung consolidation. Small pleural effusions may be a sign of worsening clinical condition. 
  • From a case series of CT scans, “Patients admitted to the [ICU] were more likely to have larger areas of bilateral consolidation…whereas patients…with milder illness were more likely to have ground-glass opacity and small areas of consolidation…” A handful of patients had normal scans.

Kanne JP (In press). Chest CT Findings in 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Infections from Wuhan, China: Key Points for the Radiologist. Radiology. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.2020200241