Computed Tomography of the Lungs as a Means of Predicting Lethal Outcome in Cancer Patients with Pneumonia Caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Virus

Abstract

The global scientific community has recognized the high importance of lung CT as a diagnostic method. The objective of this study is to prove the significance of lung CT as a means of predicting fatal outcomes of COVID–19 viral pneumonia in patients with a severe and extremely severe course of the disease. The volume of lung damage was retrospectively estimated in postmortem studies of 26 patients with the burden of cancer and in 78 patients without any cancer history (the control group). Lung CT was performed on the day of death and maximum 3 days before it. We concluded that the patients with cancer died with a lesion volume two times smaller than those without cancer, 32.38 ± 17.41% and 69.21 ± 11.63%, respectively. Thus, lung CT is not only a diagnostic tool, but it can also predict the fatal outcome of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia (COVID-19) in patients with a severe and extremely severe course of the disease.