Ricerc@Sapienza

AIM:
To investigate Chest CT post-acute sequelae in patients affected by COVID-19 pneumonia at six-month follow-up, to compare these features with those at baseline CT and to evaluate the role of baseline semi-quantitative and quantitative CT and clinical parameters in predicting pulmonary fibrotic-like changes at six-month follow-up Chest CT.
METHODS:
Patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 pneumonia who underwent baseline and six-months follow-up Chest CT will be prospectively enrolled. CT qualitative findings, semi-quantitative Lungs Severity Score (LSS) and well-aerated lung quantitative Chest CT (QCCT) will be analyzed by two radiologists in consensus. MedCalc and SPSS software will be used for statistical analysis; results will be considered statistically significant when p EXPECTED RESULTS:
We expect that six-month follow-up Chest CT will show eventual post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 pneumonia, such as fibrotic-like changes and residual ground-glass opacities. We also expect to find semi-quantitative and quantitative CT parameters and some clinical data that may predict pulmonary fibrotic-like changes at six-month follow-up Chest CT.
EXPECTED CONCLUSIONS:
Post-acute sequelae in patients affected by COVID-19 pneumonia are still unknown. We expect to demonstrate the key role of Chest CT in predicting pulmonary fibrotic-like changes, in order to correctly stratify the patients at risk to develop fibrotic-like changes, already at baseline Chest CT.