Clinical characteristics and chest radiographic findings of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to rapidly spread throughout the world. Current literature of chest x-ray appearances in COVID-19 pneumonia is limited. The objective of this study is to describe the clinical characteristics, chest radiographic findings, laboratory findings, and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 pneumonia. This is a retrospective study of 78 COVID-19 pneumonia patients with RT-PCR confirmation at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute (BIDI) between January 8 and April 15, 2020. Cases were analysed for demographic, clinical, radiological features, laboratory data, and clinical outcomes. Results of this study indicates that there were 78 COVID-19 pneumonia patients (59 male patients (75.6%), mean age 49.8±13.7 years). The most common symptoms were cough (83.3%) and fever (75.6%). The most common underlying medical conditions included hypertension (33.3%) and diabetes (15.3%). Lymphocytopenia was present in 50.0% of the patients. Ground glass opacity was the most common radiographic finding (74.4%). Chest x-ray abnormalities involved peripheral 53.9%, bilateral 39.7%, and lower zone distribution 51.3%. The severity of chest x-ray findings peaked at 13 days from the date of symptom onset. Of the 78 patients, 34.6% had severe pneumonia requiring oxygen therapy, while 6.4% needed invasive mechanical ventilation. The mortality rate was 5.1%. In conclusion, COVID-19 pneumonia was found to have non-specific clinical characteristics. Chest x-ray findings frequently showed bilateral, peripheral, lower zone ground glass opacity. Currently, supportive care and oxygen therapy are the main treatment options. Effective COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines are needed.