COVID-19 and the role of imaging: early experiences in Central Switzerland.
Swiss Med Wkly
; 150: w20304, 2020 06 15.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32580213
ABSTRACT
The SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) was initially observed in a group of Chinese patients with unclear pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei [1] in late December 2019. The first positive case in Switzerland was confirmed on 25 February 2020 in a patient from canton Tessin, who most likely caught the virus during a visit to Milan, Italy [2]. The country has since been preparing for an imminent public health emergency caused by the pandemic. As of 14 May 2020, the Swiss healthcare system is facing a total of 30,463 corona virus-positive people [3]. With numbers of new infections decreasing after the first pandemic wave, the continuing endemic situation will continue to be a major challenge for the Swiss healthcare system. It remains crucial to separate the clinically low-symptomatic from the severely affected patients in order to offer a specific therapeutic strategy to every SARS-CoV-2 patient. Reports from Chinese cohorts describe an increasing role of imaging strategies in the detection and surveillance of COVID-19 patients because of insufficient testing sensitivity of real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests [4]. Chest computed tomography (CT), with a reported sensitivity of up to 97% [5, 6], gained importance particularly in patients with false negative RT-PCR results. In this short communication, we describe our first clinical experiences with 55 COVID-19 patients in Central Switzerland, who were either imaged with a standard chest x-ray, chest CT, or both. We provide an illustrative and schematic description of typical COVID-19 imaging features and suggest that imaging plays an important role in the clinical work-up of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. This study was approved by the national ethics review committee (EKNZ, Switzerland) and patients’ informed consent was waived.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pneumonia Viral
/
Estado Terminal
/
Infecções por Coronavirus
/
Pandemias
Tipo de estudo:
Incidence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Swiss Med Wkly
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Suíça