Open AccessDiagnostic accuracy of thoracic imaging modalities for the detection of COVID-19
Author(s) -
Haben Dawit,
Marissa Absi,
Nasir Islam,
Sanam Ebrahimzadeh,
Matthew D. F. McInnes
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
world journal of radiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1949-8470
DOI - 10.4329/wjr.v14.i2.47
Subject(s) - medicine , covid-19 , radiology , meta analysis , radiography , diagnostic accuracy , nuclear medicine , pathology , disease , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to present diagnostic challenges. The use of thoracic radiography has been studied as a method to improve the diagnostic accuracy of COVID-19. The 'Living' Cochrane Systematic Review on the diagnostic accuracy of imaging tests for COVID-19 is continuously updated as new information becomes available for study. In the most recent version, published in March 2021, a meta-analysis was done to determine the pooled sensitivity and specificity of chest X-ray (CXR) and lung ultrasound (LUS) for the diagnosis of COVID-19. CXR gave a sensitivity of 80.6% (95%CI: 69.1-88.6) and a specificity of 71.5% (95%CI: 59.8-80.8). LUS gave a sensitivity rate of 86.4% (95%CI: 72.7-93.9) and specificity of 54.6% (95%CI: 35.3-72.6). These results differed from the findings reported in the recent article in this journal where they cited the previous versions of the study in which a meta-analysis for CXR and LUS could not be performed. Additionally, the article states that COVID-19 could not be distinguished, using chest computed tomography (CT), from other respiratory diseases. However, the latest review version identifies chest CT as having a specificity of 80.0% (95%CI: 74.9-84.3), which is much higher than the previous version which indicated a specificity of 61.1% (95%CI: 42.3-77.1). Therefore, CXR, chest CT and LUS have the potential to be used in conjunction with other methods in the diagnosis of COVID-19.