Typical CT features of COVID-19 pneumonia include bilateral lung involvement in form of ground-glass opacities, predominantly in peripheral posterior distribution with lower lung zone predilection. • Subpleural sparing and pleural effusion are seen approximately in one-fifth and onesixth of our COVID-19 cases respectively. • Consolidation, air-bronchograms, central lung involvement and pleural effusion on initial CT chest have prognostic value, seen significantly more in ICU admitted and expired cases. Summary statement: In the evaluation of initial CT chest features of 120 confirmed cases of COVID-19, certain findings are statistically more common in critically ill and expired patients after a short-term follow up including consolidation, air-bronchograms, crazy paving, central lung involvement, and pleural effusion.

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Purpose The increasing trend of chest CT utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates novel protocols with reduced dose and maintained diagnostic accuracy. We aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of 30-mAs chest CT protocol in comparison with a 150-mAs standard-dose routine protocol for imaging of COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods Upon IRB approval, consecutive laboratory-confirmed positive COVID-19 patients aged 50 years or older who were referred for chest CT scan and had same-day normal CXR were invited to participate in this prospective study. First, a standard-dose chest CT scan (150 mAs) was performed. Only if typical COVID-19 pneumonia features were identified, then a low-dose CT (30 mAs) was done immediately. Diagnostic accuracy of low-dose and standard-dose CT in the detection of typical COVID-19 pneumonia features were compared. Results Twenty patients with a mean age of 64.20 ± 13.8 were enrolled in the study. There was excellent intrareader agreement in detecting typical findings of COVID-19 pneumonia between low-dose and standard-dose (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.98–0.99, P values < 0.001 all readers). The mean effective dose values in standard- and low-dose groups were 6.60 ± 1.47 and 1.80 ± 0.42 mSv, respectively. Also, absolute cancer risk per mean cumulative effective dose values obtained from the standard- and low-dose CT examinations were 2.71 × 10 −4 and 0.74 × 10 −4 , respectively. Conclusions According to our study, it was found that proposed low-dose CT chest protocol is reliable in detecting COVID-19 pneumonia in daily practice with significant reduction in radiation dose and estimated cancer risk.

Highlights CT severity score is a predictor of mortality in nonelderly COVID-19 pneumonia. CT severity score more than 7.5 has a sensitivity of 83 % in predicting mortality. The extent of disease should be relayed to the clinician for higher care priorities.

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The present study is the first effort to evaluate the effects of vitamin B12 supplementation on the serum level of liver enzymes, homocysteine, grade of hepatic steatosis, and metabolic profiles in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Forty patients with NAFLD were enrolled in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial to receive either one oral tablet of vitamin B12 (1000 µg cyanocobalamin) or a placebo per day for 12 weeks. We investigated serum levels of homocysteine, aminotransferases, fasting blood glucose (FBG), lipids, malondialdehyde (MDA), and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). The grade of liver steatosis and fibrosis was measured by real-time 2-dimensional shear wave elastography. Vitamin B12 supplementation significantly decreased serum levels of homocysteine compared to placebo (medians: − 2.1 vs. − 0.003 µmol/l; P = 0.038). Although serum alanine transaminase (ALT) in the vitamin B12 group decreased significantly, this change did not reach a significant level compared to the placebo group (medians: − 7.0 vs. 0.0 IU/l; P > 0.05). Despite the significant within-group decrease in FBG, MDA, and liver steatosis in the vitamin B12 group, between-group comparisons did not reveal any significant difference. Vitamin B12 supplementation might decrease serum levels of homocysteine in patients with NAFLD. The fasting blood glucose and serum levels of MDA were significantly improved in the trial group who received vitamin B12. However, these changes did not reach a significant level compared to the placebo group. In this respect, further studies with larger sample sizes, different doses, and types of vitamin B12 will reveal additional evidence.Trial Registration: At http://irct.ir/ as IRCT20120718010333N5 on December 25, 2019.

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We report a case of 37-year-old man who was admitted to Baqiyatallah hospital in Tehran (Iran) for retrosternal pain, fever, fatigue, dyspnoea and severe non-productive cough. He was subsequently confirmed as positive for COVID-19 at real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed also the presence of pneumomediastinum. This case highlights the importance of chest CT imaging for COVID-19 pneumonia to detect co-existing conditions as pneumomediastinum.