Value of minimum intensity projections for chest CT in COVID-19 patients. Issue 135 (February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Booz, Christian; Vogl, Thomas J.; Joseph Schoepf, U.; Caruso, Damiano; Inserra, Maria Cristina; Yel, Ibrahim; Martin, Simon S.; Bucher, Andreas M.; Lenga, Lukas; Caudo, Danilo; Schreckenbach, Teresa; Schoell, Niklas; Huegel, Christian; Stratmann, Jan; Vasa-Nicotera, Mariuca; Rachovitsky-Duarte, Daniel E.; Laghi, Andrea; De Santis, Domenico; Mazziotti, Silvio; D'Angelo, Tommaso; Albrecht, Moritz H.
• Is Part Of: European journal of radiology. Issue 135(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-02
• Subjects: BMI body mass index -- COVID-19 coronavirus disease 2019 -- GGO ground-glass opacity -- IQR interquartile range -- MinIP minimum intensity projection -- MPR multiplanar reformat -- RT-PCR real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction -- SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; COVID-19 -- Pneumonia -- Viral infection -- Multidetector computed tomography -- Tomography -- Spiral computed; Medical radiology -- Periodicals; Radiology -- Periodicals; Radiologie médicale -- Périodiques; Medical radiology; Periodicals; 616.075705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2020.109478
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0720-048X

Abstract

Abstract: Purpose: To investigate whether minimum intensity projection (MinIP) reconstructions enable more accurate depiction of pulmonary ground-glass opacity (GGO) compared to standard transverse sections and multiplanar reformat (MPR) series in patients with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Method: In this multinational study, chest CT scans of 185 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Diagnostic accuracy, diagnostic confidence, image quality regarding the assessment of GGO, as well as subjective time-efficiency of MinIP and standard MPR series were analyzed based on the assessment of six radiologists. In addition, the suitability for COVID-19 evaluation, image quality regarding GGO and subjective time-efficiency in clinical routine was assessed by five clinicians. Results: The reference standard revealed a total of 149 CT scans with pulmonary GGO. MinIP reconstructions yielded significantly higher sensitivity (99.9 % vs 95.6 %), specificity (95.8 % vs 86.1 %) and accuracy (99.1 % vs 93.8 %) for assessing of GGO compared with standard MPR series. MinIP reconstructions achieved significantly higher ratings by radiologists concerning diagnostic confidence (medians, 5.00 vs 4.00), image quality (medians, 4.00 vs 4.00), contrast between GGO and unaffected lung parenchyma (medians, 5.00 vs 4.00) as well as subjective time-efficiency (medians, 5.00 vs 4.00) compared with MPR-series (all P < .001 ). Clinicians preferred MinIP reconstructions for COVID-19 assessment (medians, 5.00 vs 3.00), image quality regarding GGO (medians, 5.00 vs 3.00) and subjective time-efficiency in clinical routine (medians, 5.00 vs 3.00). Conclusions: MinIP reconstructions improve the assessment of COVID-19 in chest CT compared to standard images and may be suitable for routine application.