The world is currently dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and being able to diagnose the disease early is critical. The guidelines published by the Chinese government state demonstrate that a diagnosis of COVID-19 has to be confirmed using Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Unfortunately, the total positive rate for RT-PCR samples is between 30-60%.
What this suggests is that RT-PCR isn’t sensitive enough to diagnose COVID-19 patients, and using this technique alone means that many patients aren’t identified as quickly as they should be and as a result may not receive proper treatment. According to the study authors, “Early diagnosis of COVID-19 is crucial for disease treatment and control. Compared to RT-PCR, chest CT imaging may be a more reliable, practical and rapid method to diagnose and assess COVID-19, especially in the epidemic area.”
Recent research published in the journal, Radiology, shows that using a chest CT (often used to diagnose pneumonia) is a far more sensitive tool for diagnosing COVID-19. A group of researchers from Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, China studied 1014 patients suspected of having COVID-19 and found that using a chest CT was a better tool for diagnosing COVID-19 than lab tests. The researchers found that using a chest CT had a 98% detection rate for the virus, compared to only 71% using RT-PCR.
Of the 1014 patients studied, 601 (59%) people were diagnosed with COVID-19 using RT-PCR and 888 (88%) showed positive CT scans. In patients with negative RT-PCR results, 75% of patients had a positive result using the chest CT. The study authors explain, “About 81% of the patients with negative RT-PCR results but positive chest CT scans were re-classified as highly likely or probable cases with COVID-19, by the comprehensive analysis of clinical symptoms, typical CT manifestations and dynamic CT follow-ups.