In COVID-19 Suspicion Without Severe Manifestations, Chest CT Sensitivity is not Sufficient for Triage: A Single-centre Experience

Objectives: In Coronavirus diseases-2019 (COVID-19), chest computed tomography’s (CT) benefits are controversial in the subgroup of asymptomatic and mild-to-moderate symptomatic individuals. Since most patients are in this subgroup, for triage, it is necessary to choose the diagnostic tool with the highest diagnostic performance and the least risk. We aimed to evaluate chest CT findings and the initial chest CT’s sensitivity in individuals suspected of COVID-19 with no severe disease manifestations. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study. Symptomatic individuals who had mild-to-moderate clinical manifestations and asymptomatic individuals who had close contact with confirmed COVID-19 positive patient were eligible. Presenting severe clinical manifestations was excluded. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and chest CT were performed on admission day. Consecutive nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab sampling, tested by RT-PCR, were accepted as the reference standard for definitive diagnosis of COVID-19. Results: COVID-19 was confirmed in 161 of 214 patients via consecutive RT-PCR test. In 67 of 161 patients, pneumonia was detected by the initial chest CT. Chest CT sensitivity was 41.6% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.34-0.5], while the sensitivity of the initial RT-PCR test was 90.96% (95% CI: 0.85-0.94); the area under the curve was significantly higher in the initial RT-PCR test (p