Morphological study of adrenal gland in patients with COVID-19 using multi-slice spiral CT / 中华内分泌外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the size and density of adrenal gland, and the dynamic changes in patients with COVID-19.Methods:Study sample consisted of 67 patients diagnosed as COVID-19 (COVID-19 group) and 70 normal controls. COVID-19 group were divided into two groups: ordinary cases and severe cases. The CT value and thickness of adrenal gland in the control group (uni-temporal) and the COVID-19 group (multi-temporal) were measured, the CT value of adreal/erector spinae were calculated.Results:Compared with the control group, the COVID-19 group had bigger body, medial and lateral branches of bilateral adrenal gland ( P<0.05) . There was no significant difference between the CT value of adrenal/erector spinae for the two groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed the thickness of right medial adrenal limb in detecting diffuse adrenal hyperplasia was the best (0.881) . And there was no significant difference in the CT value of adrenal/erector spinae, thickness of bilateral adrenal body, medial and lateral branches in COVID-19 group at different times. Conclusion:The bilateral adrenal glands of COVID-19 patients were slightly swollen, adrenal body, medial and lateral branches were slightly bigger than the normal adrenal glands, but the density was normal, and there were no dynamic changes during the course of the disease.