Junda Wang; Xin Deng; Xia Zhang; Xinping Zhu; Yongchun Ke; Jie Wang; Pan Zhou; Zhi Li
Volume 23, Issue 3 , 2021
Abstract
Background: The clinical and imaging data from 52 patients with positive nucleic acid re-test during the normal NCP rehabilitation period were analyzed to compare the discharged and readmitted patients in terms of dynamic changes of computed tomography (CT) features. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate ...
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Background: The clinical and imaging data from 52 patients with positive nucleic acid re-test during the normal NCP rehabilitation period were analyzed to compare the discharged and readmitted patients in terms of dynamic changes of computed tomography (CT) features. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the CT images of the confirmed NCP patients during the follow-up period after discharge to provide a reference for the follow-up NCP evaluation.
Methods: The clinical and imaging data belonging to 52 discharged novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) patients with positive nucleic acid retesting results during the follow-up period were collected for analysis from the First Peoples Hospital, Xiaogan, Hubei Province, China. These moderate NCP patients underwent a plain CT scan before the admission, at the time of discharge, and at re-admission due to the positive result of their COVID-19 nucleic acid retesting. The CT signs of these patients were analyzed in this study.
Results: A total of 32 (61.54%) patients presented with 123 lesions with patchy fuzzy shadows. In addition, 24 (75%) and 8 (25%) patients out of the 32 patients had lesions distributed in both lungs and single lung, respectively. The CT manifestations varied in discharged moderate NCP patients whose COVID-19 nucleic acid retest was positive in the follow-up period. Most patients presented with patchy fuzzy shadows and ground-glass opacity (GGO) lesions distributed in the lower lobe of both lungs.
Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, some discharged moderate NCP patients with positive COVID-19 nucleic acid retest developed new patchy fuzzy shadows and GGO lesions. The recurrence of NCP needs to be verified once patchy fuzzy shadows and GGO lesions appear and are not absorbed during the follow-up period. This study provides a reference for the follow-up NCP evaluation.
