Recognition of COVID-19 Pneumonia in Patients Performing Different Interventional Radiological Procedures of The Chest

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Many individuals remain completely asymptomatic and can transmit the infection to the general population. The high rate of false-negative results of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), particularly early in the course of the disease process, requires other tools to diagnose COVID-19 infection, with an important role of radiological imaging. Interventional radiology in many instances continues to provide frontline care during this pandemic and can overcome the unique challenges of safety while providing adequate and efficient high-quality patient care.
Objective: The aim of our study was to focus upon the detection of typical imaging features of COVID-19 infection for asymptomatic patients, performing the different interventional radiological procedures of the chest to avoid the spread of infection and thus influence better detection and further management.
Patients and methods: In this cross-sectional study, we have 382 patients, coming for different interventional radiological procedures of the chest from May 2020 till 30 October 2021.
Results: 35 (9.1%) patients had computed tomography (CT) features of COVID-19 pneumonia using CORADS classification. RT-PCR testing was performed in 28 cases while 7 patients showed negative results; four cases repeated the RT-PCR test and three of them became positive. The other 3 cases refused to repeat RT-PCR and were only isolated and carefully monitored.
Conclusion: The radiology staff including interventional radiologists should be aware of the accidental discovery ‎of imaging features of COVD-19 infection, before proceeding with the interventional procedure‎. CT chest is an important tool for detection of COVID-19 detection, even in asymptomatic patients.