CT Imaging Features of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

Abstract

In this retrospective case series, chest CT scans of 21 symptomatic patients from China infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) were reviewed, with emphasis on identifying and characterizing the most common findings. Typical CT findings included bilateral pulmonary parenchymal ground-glass and consolidative pulmonary opacities, sometimes with a rounded morphology and a peripheral lung distribution. Notably, lung cavitation, discrete pulmonary nodules, pleural effusions, and lymphadenopathy were absent. Follow-up imaging in a subset of patients during the study time window often demonstrated mild or moderate progression of disease, as manifested by increasing extent and density of lung opacities.

© RSNA, 2020.

Figures

Graphical abstract

Figure 1a:

Images in a 29-year-old man with unknown exposure history who presented with fever and cough ultimately requiring admission to intensive care unit. (a) Axial thin-section unenhanced CT scan shows diffuse bilateral confluent and patchy ground-glass (white arrows) and consolidative (black arrows) pulmonary opacities. (b) Axial unenhanced image shows that the disease in the right middle and lower lobes has a striking peripheral distribution (arrows).

Figure 1b:

Images in a 29-year-old man with unknown exposure history who presented with fever and cough ultimately requiring admission to intensive care unit. (a) Axial thin-section unenhanced CT scan shows diffuse bilateral confluent and patchy ground-glass (white arrows) and consolidative (black arrows) pulmonary opacities. (b) Axial unenhanced image shows that the disease in the right middle and lower lobes has a striking peripheral distribution (arrows).

Figure 2:

Image in a 36-year-old man with history of recent travel to Wuhan who presented with fever, fatigue, and myalgias. Coronal thin-section unenhanced CT image shows ground-glass opacities with a rounded morphology in both upper lobes (arrows).

Figure 3:

Image in a 66-year-old woman with history of recent travel to Wuhan who presented with fever and productive cough. Axial thin-section collimated unenhanced CT image shows a crazy-paving pattern, as manifested by right lower lobe ground-glass opacification and interlobular septal thickening (arrow) with intralobular lines.

Figure 4:

Image in a 69-year-old man with history of recent travel to Wuhan who presented with fever. Axial thin-section unenhanced CT scan shows ground-glass opacities in the lower lobes with a pronounced peripheral distribution (arrows).

Figure 5a:

Images in a 43-year-old woman with a history of travel to Wuhan who presented with fever. (a) Axial thin-section unenhanced CT image obtained January 18, 2020, shows normal lung. (b) Follow-up CT image obtained January 21, 2020, shows a new solitary, rounded, peripheral ground-glass lesion in the right lower lobe (arrow).

Figure 5b:

Images in a 43-year-old woman with a history of travel to Wuhan who presented with fever. (a) Axial thin-section unenhanced CT image obtained January 18, 2020, shows normal lung. (b) Follow-up CT image obtained January 21, 2020, shows a new solitary, rounded, peripheral ground-glass lesion in the right lower lobe (arrow).