Patients with shorter time to diagnosis have lower CT score, quicker disease resolution
THURSDAY, April 2, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with longer time from symptom onset to diagnosis have higher computed tomography (CT) scores and longer time to disease resolution, according to a study published online March 30 in the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Guoquan Huang, from the Wuhu Second People’s Hospital in China, and colleagues examined the association of time from symptom onset to diagnosis and treatment with time to disease resolution and CT scores in 25 patients with COVID-19 confirmed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis with positive CT findings. CT scores were based on CT findings and lung involvement. Patients were classified according to time from symptom onset to diagnosis and treatment into group 1 (interval of no more than three days) and group 2 (interval more than three days). To score the variation tendency during treatment, the CT scores for each group were fitted using a Lorentzian line-shape curve.
The researchers found that the fitted tendency curves were significantly different for groups 1 and 2, with peak points indicating that the estimated highest CT scores were 10 and 16 points, respectively, and time to disease resolution was six and 13 days, respectively. Group 1 had lower last CT scores than group 2. There was a positive correlation for time from symptom onset to diagnosis and treatment with the time to disease resolution and with the highest CT score.
“The earlier that COVID-19 is diagnosed and treated, the shorter the time to disease resolution and the lower the highest and last CT scores are,” the authors write.
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