COVID-19 imaging: Diagnostic approaches, challenges, and evolving advances

Table 3 Four most common imaging modalities used in the diagnosis and management of coronavirus disease-2019 and their unique features/findings characterized by organ system

	Characteristic Features of COVID-19 by Imaging Modality
Organ Systems Impacted by COVID-19	1CT	Ultrasound	Magnetic resonance imaging	Chest radiography
Pulmonary	2GGOs and reticular opacities; consolidations; 3crazy paving pattern; multifocal and bilateral in a peripheral, sub-pleural, and posterior distribution	4B-line artifacts; irregularly thickened pleura; sub-pleural consolidations	Similar to CT	Interstitial reticular and reticulonodular patterns; alveolar hazy pulmonary opacities (equivalent to GGOs on CT); consolidations; multifocal & bilateral in a peripheral, sub-pleural, and posterior distribution
Cardiac	Cardiac thromboembolism	Pericardial effusion	Myocarditis; pericardial effusion
Neurological	Stroke (ischemic/thromboembolic)	Venous sinus thrombosis	Stroke (ischemic/thromboembolic); venous sinus thrombosis, hyper-intensities
Gastrointestinal	Wall thickening; edema; fluid filled intestinal lumen; mucosal hyper-enhancement; mesenteric vascular thrombi/ischemia	Portal vein thrombosis
Genitourinary	Perinephric fat stranding	Renal vein/artery thrombosis

Both pulmonary and extrapulmonary manifestations of coronavirus disease-2019 disease are detailed. Items are listed from the most common to the least common for each imaging modality and its associated organ system.

¹Computed Tomography: refers to both computed tomography (CT) and CT angiography.

²Ground-glass opacities (GGOs): ground glass opacities.

³Crazy paving pattern: GGOs with superimposed intralobular lines and interlobular septal thickening.

⁴B-line artifacts: vertically oriented hyperechoic artifacts that originate from the pleura or from areas of consolidation. CT: Computed tomography; COVID-19: Coronavirus disease-2019; GGO: Ground-glass opacities.