Altered pulmonary blood volume distribution as a biomarker for predicting outcomes in COVID-19 disease.

Introduction: Evidence suggests that vascular inflammation and thrombosis may be important drivers of poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. We hypothesised that a significant decrease in the percentage of blood volume in vessels with a cross-sectional area between 1.25 and 5 mm relative to the total pulmonary blood volume (BV5%) on chest computed tomography (CT) in COVID-19 patients is predictive of adverse clinical outcomes.