Diagnostic Tools for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Comparing CT and RT-PCR Viral Nucleic Acid Testing

• Published in: American journal of roentgenology (1976) Vol. 215; no. 4; pp. 834 - 838
• Main Authors: Waller, Joseph V, Kaur, Parveer, Tucker, Amy, Lin, Keldon K, Diaz, Michael J, Henry, Travis S, Hope, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-10-2020
• Subjects: Betacoronavirus; Clinical Laboratory Techniques - methods; Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis; COVID-19; COVID-19 Testing; Humans; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; SARS-CoV-2; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; RT-PCR; specificity; coronavirus disease; sensitivity; chest CT
• ISSN: 0361-803X; 1546-3141
• DOI: 10.2214/ajr.20.23418

Multiple studies suggest CT should be a primary diagnostic tool for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) because they reported sensitivities with CT far superior to that of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing. This review aimed to assess these reports and found chest CT to have a clinical utility that is limited, particularly for patients who show no symptoms and patients who are screened early in disease progression.
CT has limited sensitivity for COVID-19 and a lower specificity than RT-PCR testing, and it carries a risk of exposing providers to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Chest CT should be considered a supplemental diagnostic tool, particularly for patients who show symptoms.