Methods of visualization in the diagnosis of COVID‑19 community‑acquired pneumonia

Abstract

BACKGROUND. At present, the overall picture of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the causative agent of which is SARS- CoV-2, consists of hundreds of reports and articles in scientific journals, where doctors from around the world share their experience in diagnosing and treating patients. OBJECTIVE. To analyze the informativeness of imaging methods in the diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia of viral etiology (COVID-19). MATERIALS AND METHODS. We used test access to such full-text and abstract databases: a single package of the information database EBSCO; the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature Scopus; Google Scholar; MEDLINE with Full Text; MEDLINE Complete; Dyna Med Plus; EBSCO eBooks Clinical Collection; Web of Science Core Collection WoS (CC); SCIE (Science Citation Index Expanded); SSCI (Social Science Citation Index); AHCI (Artand Humanities Citation Index). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Modern imaging methods that can be used in the diagnosis and monitoring of viral etiology (COVID-19) community-acquired pneumonia include: chest radiography (CR), computed tomography (CT) of chest and ultrasound (US). The analysis allowed to determine the typical criteria for the diagnosis of inflammatory changes of chest of viral etiology (COVID-19) according to CT and to identify radiological criteria for the severity of the disease. In-patient CR and US are recommended for use in critically ill patients who are in intensive care units, when it is impossible to transport patients. CONCLUSIONS. CT is an objective and most informative research method in the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia.