Chest CT imaging of pediatric COVID-19 infection: a case report

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan, China spreading rapidly worldwide. Over 100 countries have reported surpassing 100,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID- 19, and in which 2.1% were under aged 19 years. However, little is known about the imaging features about pediatric COVID-19 patients. Herein, we report two cases about COVID-19 involving the clinical data as well as chest images. Case presentation: Two pediatric patients admitted to hospital because of high fever or dry cough. Both children had been recent exposure to the COVID-19 confirmed patients of their family members. Real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) test of these two patients’ sputum were positive for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid, and diagnosed as COVID-19 infection. Laboratory tests indicate normal white cell count (5.02 x10^9/L) and neutrophils (40.8%) in one case, and slightly increased white cell count (11.86 x10^9/L) and normal neutrophils (16.1%)in the other one. CRP of both cases were within the normal range. Computed tomography (CT) was used to evaluate the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) of these two pediatric patients. Small nodule was found in the upper right lobe of one case; and bilateral peripheral ground-glass opacities were observed in the other patient. Conclusion: In summary, clinical symptoms and signs, laboratory tests and chest CT images of pediatric patients were untypical. Epidemic exposure history and RT-PCR results still play an important role in the precise diagnosis of COVID-19 children.