The yield of chest X-ray or ultra-low-dose chest-CT in emergency department patients suspected of pulmonary infection without respiratory symptoms or signs

© 2023. The Author(s)..

OBJECTIVE: The yield of pulmonary imaging in patients with suspected infection but no respiratory symptoms or signs is probably limited, ultra-low-dose CT (ULDCT) is known to have a higher sensitivity than Chest X-ray (CXR). Our objective was to describe the yield of ULDCT and CXR in patients clinically suspected of infection, but without respiratory symptoms or signs, and to compare the diagnostic accuracy of ULDCT and CXR.

METHODS: In the OPTIMACT trial, patients suspected of non-traumatic pulmonary disease at the emergency department (ED) were randomly allocated to undergo CXR (1210 patients) or ULDCT (1208 patients). We identified 227 patients in the study group with fever, hypothermia, and/or elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) but no respiratory symptoms or signs, and estimated ULDCT and CXR sensitivity and specificity in detecting pneumonia. The final day-28 diagnosis served as the clinical reference standard.

RESULTS: In the ULDCT group, 14/116 (12%) received a final diagnosis of pneumonia, versus 8/111 (7%) in the CXR group. ULDCT sensitivity was significantly higher than that of CXR: 13/14 (93%) versus 4/8 (50%), a difference of 43% (95% CI: 6 to 80%). ULDCT specificity was 91/102 (89%) versus 97/103 (94%) for CXR, a difference of - 5% (95% CI: - 12 to 3%). PPV was 54% (13/24) for ULDCT versus 40% (4/10) for CXR, NPV 99% (91/92) versus 96% (97/101).

CONCLUSION: Pneumonia can be present in ED patients without respiratory symptoms or signs who have a fever, hypothermia, and/or elevated CRP. ULDCT's sensitivity is a significant advantage over CXR when pneumonia has to be excluded.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Pulmonary imaging in patients with suspected infection but no respiratory symptoms or signs can result in the detection of clinically significant pneumonia. The increased sensitivity of ultra-low-dose chest CT compared to CXR is of added value in vulnerable and immunocompromised patients.

KEY POINTS: • Clinical significant pneumonia does occur in patients who have a fever, low core body temperature, or elevated CRP without respiratory symptoms or signs. • Pulmonary imaging should be considered in patients with unexplained symptoms or signs of infections. • To exclude pneumonia in this patient group, ULDCT's improved sensitivity is a significant advantage over CXR.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:33

Enthalten in:

European radiology - 33(2023), 10 vom: 01. Okt., Seite 7294-7302

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

van den Berk, Inge A H [VerfasserIn]
Lejeune, Emile H [VerfasserIn]
Kanglie, Maadrika M N P [VerfasserIn]
van Engelen, Tjitske S R [VerfasserIn]
de Monyé, Wouter [VerfasserIn]
Bipat, Shandra [VerfasserIn]
Bossuyt, Patrick M M [VerfasserIn]
Stoker, Jaap [VerfasserIn]
Prins, Jan M [VerfasserIn]
OPTIMACT study group [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Emergency service, hospital
Journal Article
Pneumonia
Randomized Controlled Trial
Tomography, X-ray computed
X-rays: thorax

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 21.09.2023

Date Revised 13.10.2023

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1007/s00330-023-09664-3

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM356187829