Incidental chest computed tomography findings in asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. A multicentre Indian perspective

• Published in: The Indian journal of radiology & imaging Vol. 31; no. S 01; pp. S45 - S52
• Main Authors: Ramanan, Rochita V, Joshi, Anagha R, Venkataramanan, Akash, Nambi, Senthur P, Badhe, Rashmi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: A-12, Second Floor, Sector -2, NOIDA -201301, India Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Private Ltd 01.01.2021; Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart; Wolters Kluwer - Medknow; Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd
• Subjects: Analysis; Asymptomatic; asymptomatic covid-19 patients; Chest; Computed tomography; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; CT imaging; Disease transmission; Etiology; false positive rt-pcr; incidental covid-19 pneumonia on ct; Pneumonia; Review; Review Article; rt-pcr covid-19; Viral diseases; India; false positive RT-PCR; incidental COVID-19 pneumonia on CT; Asymptomatic COVID-19 patients; RT-PCR COVID-19
• ISSN: 0971-3026; 0970-2016; 1998-3808
• DOI: 10.4103/ijri.IJRI_479_20

Abstract In December 2019, an unprecedented outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology emerged called COVID-19. A vast number of people affected by this disease are asymptomatic and yet contagious with up to 79% of COVID-19 infections reportedly caused by undocumented infections. Surprisingly, these asymptomatic subjects are also known to quietly harbor pneumonia changes on CT scans. RT-PCR, the definitive test for COVID-19, maybe false negative in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia on CT. Incidental findings highly suspicious of COVID-19 pneumonia on CT chest of asymptomatic patients may increase as the community transmission of the virus rises and isolation restrictions are released. It is advisable to be aware of its appearances and the challenges associated with it.