Clinical features and imaging findings in six coronavirus disease 2019 patients

Objective To summarize the clinical features and imaging findings of six coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, so as to provide evidences for early diagnosis and clinical intervention. Methods Six COVID-19 patients with positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were enrolled from the Seventh People's Hospital of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from Jan. 1 to Feb. 22, 2020. The epidemiological history, clinical manifestations, imaging data and laboratory indicators were retrospectively analyzed. Results All six patients had a clear travel or residence history in Wuhan. Four patients had fever, three had cough, two had upper respiratory tract symptoms such as runny nose and sore throat, and two had systemic symptoms such as headache and muscle ache. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed that all the six patients had abnormal manifestations in bilateral lungs, and the lower lung lesions were more common than the upper lung lesions. The main manifestations were multiple ground-glass opacities, consolidation shadows, crazy paving sign and different degrees of fibrosis in lateral field of bilateral lungs. Chest CT examination later after onset showed lung consolidation and severe fibrosis. Conclusion The imaging of COVID-19 has special characteristics. Combined with the epidemiological history, clinical manifestations and the detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid, COVID-19 can be effectively diagnosed in the early stage.