Abstract

Background: Imaging has played an important role in the current global pandemic of SARS CoV2 pneumonia. The role of chest X-Rays and CT has been proved time and again. COVID -19 pneumonia spectrum ranges from asymptomatic patients to severe ARDS.

Purpose: We aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of chest radiographs with respect to RT PCR and Prognostication based on chest X-Ray severity index. 

Materials and Methods: 300 prospective patients coming to the ED and admitted as COVID 19 suspects were included in our study. Chest x ray performed on the day of admission and RT PCR results were collated. Subsequently two independent radiologists with 3years and 8years experience evaluated about 1200 serial radiographs for COVID 19 features and Severity index was calculated. Further clinical details of number of days of admission and treatment given were collected and correlated to the severity index calculated.

Results: 189 males and 111 females were included in our study. The sensitivity of Chest radiographs was 59% with a specificity of 20%. Calculated diagnostic accuracy was 55%.

We also found correlation with the severity index and prognosis of the patient in terms of oxygen requirement, ventilatory support and final outcome which had a sensitivity of 90%,83% and 100% respectively with an accuracy of 70%, 70% and 96% respectively.

Conclusion: The wide availability and feasibility of portable chest radiography with a reasonable sensitivity has made it a quick diagnostic tool in evaluating the process of evolution and assessment of severity of lung involvement. Chest radiographs have been validated as an independent prognostic indicator for decision making with regards to hospital admission/Intubation.

Keywords: COVID 19; Radiographs; Hospital

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Citation

Citation: Saarah Khan., et al. “Utility of Chest Radiographs in Hospitalised COVID-19 Pneumonia Patients". Acta Scientific Cancer Biology 5.1 (2021): 33-41.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Saarah Khan., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.