Lung cavitation as a consequence of coronavirus-19 pneumonia

E. Kurys-Denis, A. Grzywa-Celińska, R. Celiński

2nd Department of Radiology, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland. annagrzywacelinska@umlub.pl

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• Infectious Diseases
• Radiology

OBJECTIVE: There are reports confirming that the development of pulmonary cavities is an atypical CT finding in patients after COVID-19 pneumonia. Before the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, we knew that the most common causes of pulmonary cavities were mycobacterial, fungal or parasitic infections. Rapidly increasing incidence of pneumonia in the course of COVID-19, and thus, tomographic examinations of the lungs proved that one of the rare complications of this disease may also be cavity development. The aim of the study was to assess the incidence of pulmonary cavities in patients after SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. We also aimed to analyze the changes accompanying the pulmonary cavities in our patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 206 lung CT scans of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. In 28 of them, prior radiological examination revealed the presence of pulmonary lesions – these patients were disqualified for the study.

RESULTS: Out of 178 enrolled patients, 6 developed pulmonary cavities (3.37% of all cases). The most frequent changes coexisting with cavitary lesions in our material were: ground glass opacities, reticular pattern, bronchiolectasis and subpleural bands.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the similar incidence of pulmonary cavities after COVID-19 than previously reported. It also incites the clinicians to pay attention to the possibility of the occurrence of this complication.

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