CT SCAN FINDINGS IN CRITICALLY ILL ICU PATIENTS WITH COVID-19 IN BANGLADESH

Dr. Soheli Parvin*, Dr. Syed Shamsul Arephen, Dr. Shahryar Nabi Shakil, Dr. S. M. Rokonuzzaman, Dr. Faisal Mohammed Pasha, Dr. R. N. sarker and Dr. Tariqul Islam

ABSTRACT

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is spreading across the world at an alarming rate. Many of the patients infected with the coronavirus have become critical ill requiring ICU support. Critical care triage will allow the rationing of scarce ICU resources that might be needed. The CT scan of chest can assist in identifying the patients who are most likely to be critically affected by the disease and will require ICU support. The study describes the radiological findings of critically ill COVID-19 patients in ICU with the hope that this will provide information and offer the best chance of survival for the critically ill by identifying them in due time. Methods: This cross-sectional study has been carried out among the critically ill patients of COVID-19 pneumonia (confirmed by RT-PCR) admitted in ICU aged 30-70 years. The data were collected by a checklist, where the particulars of the patient, history of the illness, biochemical investigation profile and radiological findings of chest were recorded. Quality of data is strictly maintained and ethical issues are properly maintained in all the steps of this study. Results: 125 patients admitted in ICU of Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital between March 15, 2020, and August 31, 2020, were included in this study. The cohort included 80 (64.0%) men and 45 (36.0%) women, and the mean age was 58· 6 years (SD 7.2). In the CT chest findings, 114 (91.2%) patients had abnormal findings and the remaining 11 (8.8%) were normal. Among the abnormal CT findings, the predominant pattern of abnormality observed in 90 (72.0%) patients was extensive ground-glass opacity followed by crazy paving in 66 (52.8%) patients. Conclusion: The CT scan findings of critically ill patients admitted in ICU study provides essential information which will assist in critical care triage and uplift the chances of survival in life-and-death scenarios.

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