Correlations of CT signs of COVID-19 viral pneumonia with phases of diffuse alveolar damage

Abstract

A computed tomography (CT) is the leading diagnostic technique in identifying detailed and specific signs of coronavirus infection (CI). The objective of the work is to correlate between the typical set of signs that occur during CI and the phases of diffuse alveolar damage (DAD). The volume of lung lesions in 78 patients was retrospectively evaluated. All the patients had lung CT from 1 to 3 day before death. 14 patients had a targeted comparison of 3 signs «ground-glass, crazy paving pattern and consolidation» with the phases of DAD. It was found that the «ground glass» feature is most characterized by the exudative phase (lasting up to 8 days), the «crazy paving pattern» by the exudative-proliferative phase (up to 10 days), the consolidation by the proliferative phase (lasting from 8 to 20 days). According to these scientific data, CT-lung can be a prognostic factor of histological phases of DAD and their duration, which in turn may be one of the predictors of a negative prognosis and the onset of death in pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).