An 好色tv Langone Radiologist Correlates COVID-19 Disease Progression with the Density of Inflammation in the Lungs
A three-dimensional聽rendering of a CT scan shows densely consolidated inflammation caused by COVID-19, which 好色tv Langone radiologists have linked to poor outcomes.
Image courtesy of Matthew Young, DO, clinical assistant professor of radiology
Confronted with an unfamiliar respiratory disease with unknown hallmarks, physicians have turned to their colleagues in radiology for clinical clues to help them diagnose and treat coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Early on, hazy areas of increased density, or ground-glass opacity, discernible on the X-rays or CT scans of some patients鈥 lungs, caught the media鈥檚 attention as being sufficient for diagnosing COVID-19. 鈥淏ut there are dozens of things that could cause such areas of inflammation, so it鈥檚 not the basis for a diagnosis,鈥 notes William H. Moore, MD, chief of thoracic imaging in 好色tv Langone Health鈥檚 .
Dr. Moore and his colleagues have found that patients with a ground-glass configuration may actually do better than those whose lungs have denser air spaces. 鈥淭he central portion of the lungs shown in this 3-D rendering of a CT scan is densely consolidated,鈥 he notes, 鈥渟uggesting a poor prognosis.鈥 More peripherally, Dr. Moore adds, there are rounded areas of ground-glass opacities. The more disease in the lower lobe, he explains, the worse the outcome may be because that鈥檚 where most oxygenation occurs. 鈥淭his kind of condition is something a radiologist might see once or twice in their career,鈥 says Dr. Moore. 鈥淗opefully, we鈥檒l never see anything like it again.鈥
