We’re all familiar with the COVID-19 crisis across the United States and the entire world right now. Technology to fight back against the virus have evolved at a breakneck pace. But did you know that technology we already have has been immensely helpful as well?
According to the publication Radiology, CT scans have been incredibly accurate – up to 80 percent – in detecting the worst cases of COVID-19 before it is too late. Reading a CT scan of the lungs can determine which cases are more likely to end up in intubation, or even death. This accuracy increases to 86 percent after five days of symptoms.
The study occurred in 20 hospitals in France, between March 1st and April 30th, 2020. The large sample size of 10,735 underwent both chest CT scans and RT-PCR, when COVID-19 pneumonia was suspected. The extent of pneumonia on CT was a reliable metric that indicated that a case could end up with severe, even life threatening symptoms.
Since we’ve learned that COVID-19 severely affects the lungs, CT scans were a natural weapon in the fight against the illness. With early detection, doctors can allocate their resources better and in turn save more lives. With over a million deaths worldwide, CT scans can be a powerful tool in curbing severe and fatal cases.
