The Efficacy of Chest X-Ray for the Diagnosis and Follow-up in Young Adult COVID-19 Patients with Mild Dyspnea No Comorbid Diseases

Abstract

We investigated whether Chest X-Ray (CXR) could replace computed tomography (CT) modality in the diagnosis and during the treatment of young adult COVID-19 patients with mild dyspnea with no comorbid diseases. This retrospective study involved an examination of the records of a total of 956 patients hospitalized between March 1, 2020, and May 15, 2020. The study included a total of sixty-four COVID-19 patients who underwent a CXR at admission and CT imaging within 24 hours, aged 21-60 years with mild dyspnea with no comorbid diseases. The diagnosis of infection was confirmed by the polymerase chain reaction test in all cases. The first CXR and CT images at the time of admission were evaluated in terms of lesions and localization. The clinical-radiological course of the disease was also statistically evaluated. CT was normal in 18/64 (28.1%) patients, all of whom also had normal CXR. The rest of the patients 46/64 (71.9%) with an abnormal CT, the CXR was normal in 18/46 (39.1%) and abnormal in 28/46 (60.9%). The time between the onset of complaints and admission to the hospital in patients with abnormal and normal CXR was 3.5±2.3 days and 2.1±1.1 days respectively and this difference was statistically significant (p=0.004). The hospital stay durations of the patients with abnormal and normal CXR was 9.6±3.5 and 9.5±3.4 days (p=0.928), respectively, and was not statistically significant. In conclusion, in the case of early admission to the hospital, there is not a significant difference between using CXR or CT in the management of young adult COVID 19 patients with mild dyspnea no comorbid disease. Therefore, the use of CXR in these patient groups will reduce the burden of CT units in pandemic conditions with limited resources.