Effect of vaccination status on CORADS and computed tomography severity score in hospitalized COVID-19 patients:A retrospective study

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic is continuing.The disease most commonly affects the lungs.Since the beginning of the pandemic thorax computed tomography(CT)has been an indispensable imaging method for diagnosis and follow-up.The disease is tried to be controlled with vaccines.Vaccination reduces the possibility of a severe course of the disease.AIM The aim of this study is to investigate whether the vaccination status of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 has an effect on the CT severity score(CT-SS)and CORADS score obtained during hospitalization.METHODS The files of patients hospitalized between April 1,2021 and April 1,2022 due to COVID-19 were retrospectively reviewed.A total of 224 patients who were older than 18 years of age,whose vaccination status was accessible,whose severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 polymerase chain reaction result was positive,and who had a Thorax CT scan during hospitalization were included in the study.RESULTS Among the patients included in the study,52.2%were female and the mean age was 61.85 years.The patients applied to the hospital on the average 7th day of their complaints.While 63 patients were unvaccinated(Group 1),20 were vaccinated with a single dose of CoronaVac(Group 2),24 with a single dose of BioNTech(Group 3),38 with 2 doses of CoronaVac(Group 4),40 with 2 doses of BioNTech(Group 5),and 39 with 3 doses of vaccine(2 doses of CoronaVac followed by a single dose of BioNTech,Group 6).CT-SS ranged from 5 to 23,with a mean of 12.17.RESULTS CT-SS mean of the groups were determined as 14.17,13.35,11.58,10.87,11.28,10.85,respectively.Accordingly,as a result of the comparisons between the groups,the CT-SS levels of the unvaccinated patients found to be significantly higher than the other groups.As the vaccination rates increased,the rate of typical COVID-19 findings on CT was found to be significantly lower.CONCLUSION Increased vaccination rates in COVID-19 patients reduce the probability of typical COVID-19 symptoms in the lungs.It also reduces the risk of severe disease and decreases CT Severity Scores.This may lead to a loss of importance of Thorax CT in the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia as the end of the pandemic approaches.

Correlation of computed tomography findings and lung function in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis

Background The timely and appropriate monitoring of pulmonary status is of utmost importance for patients with cystic fibrosis(CF).Computed tomography(CT)has been used in clinical and research settings for tracking lung involvement in CF patients.However,as CT delivers a considerable amount of radiation,its sequential use in CF patients remains a concern.The application of CT,therefore,should take into account its potential risks.This review aims to understand whether and to what extent the CT findings correlate with the findings from other monitoring tools in CF lung disease.Data sources PubMed was searched for articles about the correlation of chest CT findings with spirometric indices and with lung clearance index in children and adolescents with CF.The most relevant articles were reviewed and are presented herein.Results Most studies have shown that forced expiratory volume in the first second(FEV,)and other spirometric indices correlate moderately with CT structural lung damage.However,at the individual level,there were patients with FEV,within the normal range and abnormal CT and vice versa.Furthermore,longitudinal studies have indicated that the deterioration of structural lung damage does not occur in parallel with the progression of lung function.Lung clearance index is a better predictor of CT findings.Conclusions In general,the existing studies do not support the use of lung function tests as surrogates of chest CT.