tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
World J Pediatr
. 2021 Nov 22.
doi: 10.1007/s12519-021-00484-3. Online ahead of print.
Chest CT features of children infected by B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of COVID-19
Qi-Rui Cheng[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ming-Xing Fan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jing Hao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xiao-Chen Hu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xu-Hua Ge[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Zhi-Liang Hu[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Zhuo Li[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to explore the imaging characteristics, diversity and changing trend in CT scans of pediatric patients infected with Delta-variant strain by studying imaging features of children infected with Delta and comparing the results to those of children with original COVID-19.
Methods: A retrospective, comparative analysis of initial chest CT manifestations between 63 pediatric patients infected with Delta variant in 2021 and 23 pediatric patients with COVID-19 in 2020 was conducted. Corresponding imaging features were analyzed. In addition, the changing trend in imaging features of COVID-19 Delta-variant cases were explored by evaluating the initial and follow-up CT scans.
Results: Among 63 children with Delta-variant COVID-19 in 2021, 34 (53.9%) showed positive chest CT presentation; and their CT score (1.10 ± 1.41) was significantly lower than that in 2020 (2.56 ± 3.5) (P = 0.0073). Lesion distribution: lung lesions of Delta cases appear mainly in the lower lungs on both sides. Most children had single lobe involvement (18 cases, 52.9%), 14 (41.2%) in the right lung alone, and 14 (41.2%) in both lungs. A majority of Delta cases displayed initially ground glass (23 cases, 67.6%) and nodular shadows (13 cases, 38.2%) in the first CT scan, with few extrapulmonary manifestations. The 34 children with abnormal chest CT for the first time have a total of 92 chest CT examinations. These children showed a statistically significant difference between the 0-3 day group and the 4-7 day group (P = 0.0392) and a significant difference between the 4-7 day group and the more than 8 days group (P = 0.0003).
Conclusions: The early manifestations of COVID-19 in children with abnormal imaging are mostly small subpleural nodular ground glass opacity. The changes on the Delta-variant COVID-19 chest CT were milder than the original strain. The lesions reached a peak on CT in 4-7 days and quickly improved and absorbed after a week. Dynamic CT re-examination can achieve a good prognosis.
Keywords: B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant; Chest computed tomography (CT); Children; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
. 2021 Nov 22.
doi: 10.1007/s12519-021-00484-3. Online ahead of print.
Chest CT features of children infected by B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of COVID-19
Qi-Rui Cheng[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ming-Xing Fan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jing Hao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xiao-Chen Hu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xu-Hua Ge[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Zhi-Liang Hu[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Zhuo Li[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34811704
- DOI: 10.1007/s12519-021-00484-3
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to explore the imaging characteristics, diversity and changing trend in CT scans of pediatric patients infected with Delta-variant strain by studying imaging features of children infected with Delta and comparing the results to those of children with original COVID-19.
Methods: A retrospective, comparative analysis of initial chest CT manifestations between 63 pediatric patients infected with Delta variant in 2021 and 23 pediatric patients with COVID-19 in 2020 was conducted. Corresponding imaging features were analyzed. In addition, the changing trend in imaging features of COVID-19 Delta-variant cases were explored by evaluating the initial and follow-up CT scans.
Results: Among 63 children with Delta-variant COVID-19 in 2021, 34 (53.9%) showed positive chest CT presentation; and their CT score (1.10 ± 1.41) was significantly lower than that in 2020 (2.56 ± 3.5) (P = 0.0073). Lesion distribution: lung lesions of Delta cases appear mainly in the lower lungs on both sides. Most children had single lobe involvement (18 cases, 52.9%), 14 (41.2%) in the right lung alone, and 14 (41.2%) in both lungs. A majority of Delta cases displayed initially ground glass (23 cases, 67.6%) and nodular shadows (13 cases, 38.2%) in the first CT scan, with few extrapulmonary manifestations. The 34 children with abnormal chest CT for the first time have a total of 92 chest CT examinations. These children showed a statistically significant difference between the 0-3 day group and the 4-7 day group (P = 0.0392) and a significant difference between the 4-7 day group and the more than 8 days group (P = 0.0003).
Conclusions: The early manifestations of COVID-19 in children with abnormal imaging are mostly small subpleural nodular ground glass opacity. The changes on the Delta-variant COVID-19 chest CT were milder than the original strain. The lesions reached a peak on CT in 4-7 days and quickly improved and absorbed after a week. Dynamic CT re-examination can achieve a good prognosis.
Keywords: B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant; Chest computed tomography (CT); Children; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).