Chest computed tomography severity score in patients admitted to intensive care unit with COVID-19 pneumonia

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study aimed to investigate the association of the chest computed tomography severity score (CT-SS) with mortality in patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. METHODS: In this single-center retrospective observational study, we reviewed the radiological and medical records of 45 patients with confirmed COVID-19, requiring ICU admission during a 4 month period. The chest CT-SS was used to evaluate the severity of lung involvement. RESULTS: Forty-five patients who admitted to the ICU with COVID-19 and had undergone chest CT scans on admission were enrolled. There wasn't a significant difference in total CT-SS neither between patients who died and those who survived [median (interquartile range) 22 (11-30) vs 16 (9-18), p=0.20] nor between patients who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation and those who did not [median (interquartile range) 22 (12-30) vs 15 (8-17), p=0.17]. The median of CT-SS was 17 (2-39) (n=23 vs n=22). The area under the curve for estimation of mortality according to CT-SS was 0.611 at a 95% CI of 0.434-0.788 (p=0.20). CONCLUSIONS: The total CT-SS, obtained from the chest CT on admission to the ICU, was not associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients admitted to ICU with COVID-19 pneumonia.