Comparison of CT Scan Findings of COVID-19 Pneumonia in Patients with and without Cancer

COVID-19 pneumonia is one of the critical health system challenges in the world. This study aimed to compare the imaging and staging findings of the COVID-19 pneumonia CT scan in patients with and without cancer.

In this case-control study, 109 cancer patients as the case group and 214 non-cancer patients as the control group were included. Covid-19 patients with and without cancer referred to Amir Al-Momenin, and Khansari Hospital in Arak city from June 2020 to July 2021 were included. The data were organized into demographics, underlying medical conditions, ICU admission, and imaging findings.

Overall, 323 Covid-19 patients were included in the analysis, and 109 cases of them were cancer patients. The mean age was 63.12±15.38 years, and 53.87% were female. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission rate (41.28% vs 41.28%12.62%) was significantly higher in the cancer group than in the control group (P<0.001). The involvement of lung lobes in the cancer group was higher than in the control group (P=0.011) (70.56% in the left lung and 71.1% in the right lung of cancer patients than 77.40% in the left lung and 83.10% in the right lung). The presence of Ground Glass Opacities (GGO) was higher in CT images of the cancer group in all lobs. This difference in the right upper lobe (RUL) lob was significant (P=0.011) and consolidation (CON) was higher in CT images of the control group, but the differences were not significant (P>0.05). The mean total score in the cancer group was 6.23±2.76 and in the control group was 5.87±2.23 (P=0.202). The mean score in the cancer group of left lower lobe (LLL) lung lobes was 1.46±0.94 and in the control group was 1.21±0.76 (P=0.010) (Table 2).

The results showed that GGO and consolidation were common findings in CT images. GGO was higher in cancer patients. The involvement of lung lobes in the cancer group was higher than in the control group. ICU admission rate was significantly higher in cancer patients.