Radiologists are capable of differentiating COVID-19 from other atypical pneumonia on CT, according to a new analysis published in the European Journal of Radiology.
Computed tomography emerged as a useful tool for assessing patients with the novel coronavirus last year. However, it has also raised concerns among the specialty, with chest imaging lacking the specificity of viral testing and overlapping with similar findings for other infections.
German researchers set out to explore this topic in what they believe is the first study to gauge radiologists’ performance in determining patients’ stage of COVID-19 pneumonia. Physicians appeared to excel, though they did struggle to assess the early and late stages of the disease, and skill levels did not impact the results.
