The Radiological Images and the Diagnostic of COVID-19

Abstract

The gold-standard method to identify the presence of COVID-19 is the RT-PCR. However, the imaging diagnostic has been requested when there is suspicion of disease’s presence and/or the inflammatory phase of the disease begins. Ths artices described the most common manifestations and patterns of lung abnormality on computed X-Ray (CXR), computer tomography (CT) and Ultrasound of the chest in COVID-19. Notwithstanding the RT-PCR is the gold-standard diagnostic method for COVID-19, the CT has been shown an essential tool to identify pneumonia and the complications of COVID-19 in a patient. This review article aimed to summarize the radiological findings of COVID-19 researches for the following three principal areas: (1) radiological performance in the detection of COVID-19; (2) radiological role in the diagnosis of COVID-19; and (3) radiological function in the monitoring of COVID-19. We searched the articles in the main database (PubMed/Medline, Elsevier Science Direct, Scopus, Isi Web of Science, Embase, Exerpta Medica, UptoDate, Lilacs, Novel Coronavirus Resource Directory from Elsevier), in the high-impact international scientific Journals (Scimago Journal and Country Rank - SJR - and Journal Citation Reports - JCR), such as The Lancet, Science, Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, Physiological Reviews, Journal of the American Medical Association, Plos One, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and in the data from Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and World Health Organization (WHO). We prior selected meta-analysis, systematic reviews, article reviews and original articles in this order. We reviewed 121 articles and used 57 for this paper from March to May 2020, using the terms coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, novel coronavirus, Wuhan coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome, 2019-nCoV, 2019 novel coronavirus, n-CoV-2, covid, n-Sars-2, COVID-19, corona virus, coronaviruses, diagnostic, radiology, imaging, computed tomography, chest, CT, X-Ray, with the tools MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), AND, OR, and characters [,“,; /., to ensure the best review topics. We concluded that the imaging method to detect the features of COVID-19 plays an important role in the diagnosis and follow up of the patient with COVID-19 pneumonia. Despite CT has a better sensitivity when compared to CRX and ultrasound, the portable CRX and portable ultrasound could be a new tool with minimal risk of contamination and with good sensitivity.