Relationship between chest CT findings and clinical conditions of COVID-19: A multicentre experience

Epidemiological, clinical features, laboratory findings and radiological characteristics of 1,563 hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in Ankara were analysed in this study. The risk factors associated with disease severity were investigated. Non-severe (1,214; 77.7%) and severe cases (349; 22.3%) were enrolled in the study. Compared with the non-severe group, the severe group were significantly older and had more comorbidities (i.e. hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease). Severe patients had higher respiratory rates and higher incidences of cough and dyspnea compared to non-severe patients. Compared to the non-severe patients, the severe patients had increased CRP, procalcitonin, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and CRP/albumin ratio and decreased albumin. The occurrence rates of consolidation, subpleural sparing, crazy-paving pattern, cavity, halo sign, reversed halo sign, air bronchogram, pleural thickening, micronodule, subpleural curvilinear line, multilobar and bilateral involvement in the CT finding of the severe patients were significantly higher than those of the non-severe patients. This cohort study revealed that age (≥55 years), male sex, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, immunosuppression, dyspnea, increased CRP and NLR, and decreased lymphocyte count and albumin levels and CT findings of bilateral and multilobar lung disease, right lower lobe involvement, crazy-paving pattern, consolidation, halo sign, subpleural sparing and micronodules were predictors of severe COVID-19.