Chest CT changes in COVID-19 patients with hypertension comorbidities

Abstract AIMTo summarize the chest CT and clinical features of COVID-19 pneumonia patients with hypertension comorbidities.METHODSThe initial chest CT imaging and clinical data of 15 confirmed COVID-19 patients with hypertension comorbidities treated in our hospital were analyzed retrospectively from January 1, 2019 to February 14, 2020. The chest CT images and clinical data were reviewed and their relationship of the disease was analyzed.RESULTSTotally 15 COVID-19 patients diagnosed with hypertension comorbidities were included. In terms of clinical characteristics, 14/15 (93.3%) of patients had characteristics of clustering onset, and the positive rates of the first RT-PCR test and the initial CT were 80% and 93% respectively. The most frequent CT abnormality observed was ground glass opacity (GGO) (13/15, 86.7%), including patchy/ punctate GGO and large/multiple GGO. Most of the lesions were multiple, and 60% of them involved 4-5 lobes. Most patients present with bilateral CT onset (12,80.0%), and most present with subpleural distribution (10,66.7%). The average CT score is 13.7, and 40% of the patients exceeded 20 points.CONCLUSIONThe common chest CT findings in COVID-19 patients with hypertension comorbidities are GGO, most of which at present with bilateral CT onset and subpleural distribution. CT is indispensable in the diagnosis and evaluation of this global health emergency.