Diagnostic Tools for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Comparing CT and RT-PCR Viral Nucleic Acid Testing.
Journal Article (Journal Article;Review)
OBJECTIVE. Multiple studies suggest CT should be a primary diagnostic tool for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) because they reported sensitivities with CT far superior to that of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing. This review aimed to assess these reports and found chest CT to have a clinical utility that is limited, particularly for patients who show no symptoms and patients who are screened early in disease progression. CONCLUSION. CT has limited sensitivity for COVID-19 and a lower specificity than RT-PCR testing, and it carries a risk of exposing providers to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Chest CT should be considered a supplemental diagnostic tool, particularly for patients who show symptoms.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Waller, JV; Kaur, P; Tucker, A; Lin, KK; Diaz, MJ; Henry, TS; Hope, M
Published Date
- October 2020
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 215 / 4
Start / End Page
- 834 - 838
PubMed ID
- 32412790
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1546-3141
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.2214/AJR.20.23418
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States