Different chest CT scoring systems in patients with COVID-19: could baseline CT be a helpful tool in predicting survival in patients with matched ages and co-morbid conditions?

Abstract

Background

Computed tomography (CT) gives an idea about the prognosis in patients with COVID-19 lung infiltration.

Purpose

To evaluate the success rates of various scoring methods utilized in order to predict survival periods, on the basis of the imaging findings of COVID-19. Another purpose, on the other hand, was to evaluate the agreements among the evaluating radiologists.

Material and Methods

A total of 100 cases of known COVID-19 pneumonia, of which 50 were deceased and 50 were living, were included in the study. Pre-existing scoring systems, which were the Total Severity Score (TSS), Chest Computed Tomography Severity Score (CT-SS), and Total CT Score, were utilized, together with the Early Decision Severity Score (ED-SS), which was developed by our team, to evaluate the initial lung CT scans of the patients obtained at their initial admission to the hospital. The scans were evaluated retrospectively by two radiologists. Area under the curve (AUC) values were acquired for each scoring system, according to their performances in predicting survival times.

Results

The mean age of the patients was 61 ± 14.85 years (age range = 18–87 years). There was no difference in co-morbidities between the living and deceased patients. The survival predicted AUC values of ED-SS, CT-SS, TSS, and Total CT Score systems were 0.876, 0.823, 0.753, and 0.744, respectively.

Conclusion

Algorithms based on lung infiltration patterns of COVID-19 may be utilized for both survival prediction and therapy planning.