A review of chest radiographic patterns in mild to moderate novel corona virus disease 2019 at an urban hospital in Ghana

Abstract

Introduction: The novel corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was diagnosed in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and, in Ghana, in March 2020. As of 30th July 2020, Ghana had recorded 35,142 cases. COVID-19 which can be transmitted by both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals usually manifest as pneumonia with symptoms like fever, cough, dyspnoea and fatigue. The current non-availability of a vaccine or drug for COVID-19 management calls for early detection and isolation of affected individuals. Chest imaging has become an integral part of patient management with chest radiography serving as a primary imaging modality in many centres.
Methods: The study was a retrospective study conducted at Ga East Municipal Hospital (GEMH). Chest radiographs of patients with mild to moderate disease managed at GEMH were evaluated. The age, gender, symptom status, comorbidities and chest x-ray findings of the patients were documented. Results: 11.4 % of the patients had some form of respiratory abnormality on chest radiography with 88.9% showing COVID-19 pneumonia features. 93.8% showed ground glass opacities (GGO), with 3.1% each showing consolidation (CN) only and CN with GGO. There was a significant association between COVID-19 radiographic features and patient’s age, symptom status and comorbidities but not with gender.
Conclusion: Most radiographs were normal with only 11% showing COVID-19-like abnormality. There was a significant association between age, symptom status and comorbidities with the presence of COVID-19 like features but not for gender. There was no association between the extent of the lung changes and patient characteristics.