A STUDY OF CORRELATION BETWEEN CHEST HRCT SCORE WITH CT VALUES OF RT-PCR TESTING FOR COVID-19 INFECTION

Objectives: To compare the performance of chest CT and Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) in the initial diagnostic assessment of the coronavirus disease in COVID-19 patients during pandemic. Methods& Results:In this study we have included 209 clinically suspected cases of COVID-19from Government Medical College, Nagpur who undergone both HRCT chest and RT-PCR. In our study, 3.35% of patients who were RT PCR positive did not have any findings on CT chest, and total positivity by RT-PCR was 100%. Of the patients, 51.67% showed mild HRCT score, 41.19% showed moderate HRCT score, and 4.78% showed severe HRCT score. An inverse relation between CT value of RTPCR and chest HRCT score was detected (p < 0.01). Discussion:The viral load in patients with less severe COVID-19 does not necessarily indicate the need for hospitalization or treatment.Both RT-PCR and Chest CT scan should be used in combination, but chest CT should be used judiciously. Conclusion:Combining RT-PCR with chest CT scans can provide valuable insights into the severity of COVID-19, and thus, the two should be used together for accurate diagnosis.