CT features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia: experience of a single center in Southern Italy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to report the radiological features of chest CT scan of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) living in a town in Southern Italy where a significant outbreak of the disease occurred.

Methods: We revised the CT scan of 62 patients (34 male, 28 female, mean age 71 +/- 14 years) with clinical and laboratory signs of COVID-19, as assessed by positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing. All patients underwent chest CT at the time of admission to the hospital. A semi-quantitative scoring system was used to evaluate the extension of the disease.

Results: Out of the 62 patients the main radiological findings were reticular pattern (29%), ground-glass opacities (24%), crazy paving pattern (11%) and consolidation (35%). Most of the lesions were bilateral (97%), posterior (95%) and located near pleura (50%) or lung fissures (45%), mainly involving the lower right lobe (56%) and lower left lobe (23%). Pleural thickening was observed in 72.6% of patients and pleural effusion in 18%. Median value of the score was 7.0 and was significantly higher in male than female (8.5 vs 6.0, p=0.03) and in patients with pleural thickening compared to those without this finding (8.0 vs 5.0, p=0.03).