CT imaging features of 34 patients infected with COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively analyze the CT findings in patients infected with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The thirty-four cases, 15 females and 19 males, with an age ranging from 7 to 88 years old, confirmed by real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), were used for our study. All thin-section CT scans of the lungs were performed in all of patients. The clinical, laboratory and CT imaging were available to evaluate in all patients. RESULTS: The patients present with fever (85.29%, n = 29), cough (67.65%, n = 23), fatigue or myalgia (26.47%, n = 9), and pharyngalgia (8.82%, n = 3). The 4 patients (11.76%) with no symptoms were identified during screening for close contacts, who had typical CT findings. On initial CT scans, the bilateral lung involved was shown in 24 cases (70.59%), while 29 (82.35%) cases were distributed in peripheral. The pure ground glass opacity (GGO) was shown in 18 cases (52.94%), the GGO with consolidation was in 12 cases (35.29%), and full consolidation only in 3 cases. The lesion with air bronchogram was seen in 14 (41.18%) cases, with enlarged blood vessel in 17 (50.00%) cases, with crazy-paving pattern in 8 (23.53%) cases, with fine reticular pattern in 4 (11.77%) cases, and with intralesional vacuole sign in 6 (17.65%) cases. The pleural effusion was seen in one patient. Follow-up imaging in 19 patients during the study time window demonstrated mild, moderate or severe progression of disease, as manifested by increasing extent and density of lung opacities. CONCLUSIONS: The bilateral GGO with air bronchogram, enlarged blood vessel, fine reticular pattern, and peripheral distribution are the early CT findings of COVID-19. The crazy-paving pattern and intralesional vacuole sign are the features of progressive stage.

Combined effect of n-3 fatty acids and phytosterol esters on alleviating hepatic steatosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease subjects: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial.

The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of n-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA, at an EPA:DHA ratio of 150:500) and phytosterol esters (PS) on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ninety-six NAFLD subjects were randomly assigned to the following groups: the PS group (receiving 3·3 g/d PS); the FO group (receiving 450 mg EPA + 1500 mg DHA/d); the PS + FO combination group (receiving 3·3 g/d PS and 450 mg EPA + 1500 mg DHA/d) and the PO group (a placebo group). The baseline clinical characteristics of the four groups were similar. The primary outcome was liver:spleen attenuation ratio (L:S ratio). The percentage increase in liver-spleen attenuation (≤1) in the PS + FO group was 36 % (P = 0·083), higher than those in the other three groups (PS group, 11 %, P = 0·519; FO group, 18 %, P = 0·071; PO group, 15 %, P = 0·436). Compared with baseline, transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) was significantly decreased in the three study groups at the end of the trial (PS, P = 0·000; FO, P = 0·002; PS + FO, P = 0·001) and TNF-α was significantly decreased in the FO group (P = 0·036), PS + FO group (P = 0·005) and PO group (P = 0·032) at the end of the intervention. Notably, TGF-ß was reduced significantly more in the PS + FO group than in the PO group (P = 0·032). The TAG and total cholesterol levels of the PS + FO group were reduced by 11·57 and 9·55 %, respectively. In conclusion, co-supplementation of PS and EPA + DHA could increase the effectiveness of treatment for hepatic steatosis.