The role of chest imaging in the management of children with COVID-19

COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus infection that can cause a severe respiratory illness and has been declared a pandemic by the WHO. Compared with adults, most pediatric patients with COVID-19 are mostly asymptomatic, whereas others show distinctive characteristics in clinical presentation and imaging. Most of the pulmonary lesions were ambiguous on chest radiographs. The routine use of computer tomography of chest in the evaluation of children with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 is useful in diagnosing and monitoring pediatric COVID-19 pneumonia. Clinicians and radiologists should become familiar with the computed tomography findings of COVID-19, as the early detection of lesions by computed tomography is conducive to reasonable management and early treatment for pediatric patients. This minireview examines the most recent evidence to recommend usage of chest imaging modalities in children with COVID-19.