Emerging 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019 nCoV) Pneumonia
Background The chest CT findings of patients with 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019 nCoV) pneumonia have not previously been described in detail. Purpose To investigate the clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings of emerging 2019 nCoV pneumonia in humans. Materials and Methods Fifty one patients (25 men and 26 women; age range 16 76 years) with laboratory confirmed 2019 nCoV infection by using real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction underwent thin section CT. The imaging findings, clinical data, and laboratory data were evaluated. Results Fifty of 51 patients (98% had a history of contact with individuals from the endemic center in Wuhan, China. Fever (49 of 51, 96% and cough (24 of 51, 47% were the most common symptoms. Most patients had a normal white blood cell count (37 of 51, 73% neutrophil count (44 of 51, 86% and either normal (17 of 51, 35% or reduced (33 of 51, 65% lymphocyte count. CT images showed pure ground glass opacity (GGO) in 39 of 51 (77% patients and GGO with reticular and/or interlobular septal thickening in 38 of 51 (75% patients. GGO with consolidation was present in 30 of 51 (59% patients, and pure consolidation was present in 28 of 51 (55% patients. Forty four of 51 (86% patients had bilateral lung involvement, while 41 of 51 (80% involved the posterior part of the lungs and 44 of 51 (86% were peripheral. There were more consolidated lung lesions in patients 5 days or more from disease onset to CT scan versus 4 days or fewer (431 of 712 lesions vs 129 of 612 lesions; P .001) Patients older than 50 years had more consolidated lung lesions than did those aged 50 years or younger (212 of 470 vs 198 of 854; P .001) Follow up CT in 13 patients showed improvement in seven (54% patients and progression in four (31% patients. Conclusion Patients with fever and/or cough and with conspicuous ground glass opacity lesions in the peripheral and posterior lungs on CT images, combined with normal or decreased white blood cells and a history of epidemic exposure, are highly suspected of having 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019 nCoV) pneumonia. (c) RSNA, 2020
Radiology