Stroke Scans Can Reveal COVID-19 Infection

A new research from King's College London has found that COVID-19 may be diagnosed on the same emergency scans that are intended to diagnose stroke. The findings have important implications in the management of patients presenting with suspected stroke through early identification of COVID-19.// In a paper published recently in the American Journal of Neuroradiology, Lecturer in Neuro-imaging at King's College London, Dr Tom Booth said the emergency scans captured images of the top of the lungs where a fluffiness known as 'ground glass opacification' allowed the diagnosis of COVID-19.

In the study, three London Hyper-Acute Stroke Units examined 225 patients. The emergency stroke scan consisted of a computed tomography (CT) of the head and neck blood vessels.

Dr Booth disclosed the results revealing that COVID-19 can be diagnosed reliably and accurately when these changes are visible on the top of the lungs during the emergency scan and even increased mortality can be predicted.

"This is particularly relevant given the limitations of currently available Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing as it takes time to complete the test and sometimes it is inaccurate," Dr.Booth said.

"Additionally, our data have prognostic information given the increased mortality in those with lung changes shown in our cohort. These are useful results because the changes are simple for radiologists and other doctors to see. This is "free information" from a scan intended for another purpose yet extremely valuable,”he added.

The findings allow earlier selection of the appropriate level of personal protective equipment (PPE) and attendant staff numbers, triage to appropriate inpatient ward settings, self-isolation and contact tracing.

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Source-Medindia