Evaluation of Radiological Findings of Pregnant Women with COVID-19

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to evaluate the radiological findings of pregnant women with COVID-19 pneumonia.
METHODS: A total of 192 pregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19 by performing real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test (RT-PCR) were studied retrospectively. Chest X-rays and thoracic CT findings were defined by dividing patients into three groups according to the time of diagnosis: <12 weeks of gestation (first trimester, n=15), 12-24 weeks of gestation (second trimester, n=33), and >24 weeks of gestation (third trimester, n=144). Only 98 patients who underwent chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) were included in the study. Data including affected lung side, number of involved lobes, number of lesions, lesion density/opacity, and parenchymal infection pattern were evaluated.
RESULTS: Twenty-five patients were asymptomatic at the time of admission, and the most common symptom was dry cough in 103 patients. The median D-dimer level was the lowest in the first trimester group (<12 weeks) and the highest in the third trimester group (>24 weeks). The mean white blood cell count was significantly higher in the third trimester group (>24 weeks) than in the first trimester group (<12 weeks) (p=0.036). Ninety-eight patients underwent radiological imaging studies. Findings suggestive of COVID-19 pneumonia were found in 59 (65%) out of 90 patients by means of chest radiography and in 21 (87.5%) out of 24 patients by performing thorax tomography. The most common findings were bilateral and multilobar lung involvement, patchy involvement, and ground-glass opacities (GGOs).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study's results show that pregnant women with COVID-19 have similar radiological findings to non-pregnant COVID-19 patients, and the most common findings are bilateral and multilobar involvement. Furthermore, pregnant patients can be admitted with lower GGO (lesion in ground glass density) rates and higher consolidation rates compared to the general population.