CT scan does not make a diagnosis of Covid-19: A cautionary case report

Tu Anh Tran; Renaud Cezar; Julien Frandon; Sarah Kabani; Pierre Corbeau

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2020.08.073

CT scan does not make a diagnosis of Covid-19: A cautionary case report

Int J Infect Dis. 2020 Nov:100:182-183. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.08.073. Epub 2020 Sep 2.

Authors

Tu Anh Tran¹, Renaud Cezar², Julien Frandon³, Sarah Kabani⁴, Pierre Corbeau⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital of Nîmes, Place du Pr Debré, 30029, Nîmes, France; IRMB, INSERM U1183-Montpellier University, 80 Rue Augustin Fliche, 34295, Montpellier, France; Montpellier University, 641 Avenue du Doyen Gaston Giraud, 34000, Montpellier, France.
² IRMB, INSERM U1183-Montpellier University, 80 Rue Augustin Fliche, 34295, Montpellier, France; Department of Immunology, University Hospital of Nîmes, Place du Pr Debré, 30029, Nîmes, France.
³ Department of Medical Imaging, University Hospital of Nîmes, Place du Pr Debré, 30029, Nîmes, France.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Public Health and Innovation in Methodology (BESPIM), University Hospital of Nîmes, Place du Pr Debré, 30029, Nîmes, France.
⁵ Montpellier University, 641 Avenue du Doyen Gaston Giraud, 34000, Montpellier, France; Department of Immunology, University Hospital of Nîmes, Place du Pr Debré, 30029, Nîmes, France; Institute of Human Genetics, CNRS-Montpellier University UMR9002, 141 Rue de la Cardonille, 34396 Montpellier, France; Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire Infections Chroniques Montpellier-Nîmes, France. Electronic address: pierre.corbeau@chu-nimes.fr.

Abstract

Here, we report the clinical case of a 12-year-old girl presenting with flu-like symptoms, cough, anosmia, ageusia, breathing difficulties, and patchy ground glass opacities on TDM chest scan who turned out to be Coronavirus 229E-infected. This case draws attention to the risk of false COVID-19 diagnosis when over-relying on CT scan imaging.

Keywords: Ageusia; Anosmia; Covid-19 imagery; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

COVID-19 / diagnosis*
COVID-19 / diagnostic imaging
COVID-19 Testing / methods*
Child
Cough / diagnosis
Female
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Tomography, X-Ray Computed* / methods