GROUND GLASS OPACITY- (GGO) MIMICS AND ITS CHAMELEONS IN THE ED A LITERATURE REVIEW

Background : The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented health care crisis with, disruptions in bothroutine and emergency health care delivery and immense strain on health care resources . The clinical spectrum ofdisease with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection is variable and ranges from an asymptomatic infection or mildupper respiratory tract illness to severe viral pneumonia with respiratory failure and occasionally death. In a resourceconstrained environment with a high community burden of the disease and rapid point-of-care testing eitherunavailable or showing negative results, CT has been used to rapidly triage patients into non COVID-19, possibleCOVID-19, or most likely COVID-19 . As per the Fleischner Society consensus statement, CT is appropriate in certainscenarios, including for patients who are at risk for and/or develop clinical worsening .The common chest CT findings ofCOVID-19 are multiple ground glass opacity(most common), consolidation and interlobular septal thickening in bothlungs, which are mostly distributed under the pleura. The ground-glass opacities are usually peripherally located withthe lower lobes being commonly involved. Imaging differentiation is important for management and isolation purposesand for appropriate disposition of patients . (1,7) The purpose of this article is to discuss the common presentations ofemergency department with ground glass opacities and to review the differential diagnosis of typical imagingfindings of COVID-19. Ground glass opacities appear in a variety of disease processes of emergenc Conclusion : ydepartment presentations . Not all presentations with GGO” s have SARS COV2 or Covid -19 viral pneumonia .