Late Breaking Abstract - Chest radiography-a predictor of prognosis in COVID-19

Introduction: Chest radiography (CXR) is typically the first-line imaging modality used for patients with suspected COVID-19 CXRs may be normal in early or mild disease Of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization, 69% had an abnormal CXR at the initial time of admission, and 80% had radiographic abnormalities sometime during hospitalization (Wong et al 2020) We aimed to investigate CXR findings at admission and its predictive value of outcomes in these patients Methods: 595 patients were admitted with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 between 15/3/2020-30/4/2020 Data were retrospectively analysed to ascertain the rate of CXR abnormality suggestive of COVID-19 at admission and the correlation with ITU admission, Continuous Positive Airway pressure (CPAP) use, Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) swab positivity, and mortality Results: Normal CXR as a negative predictor for ITU admission, CPAP use, mortality, and RT-PCR positivity were all statistically significant (P<0 05) All patients with a normal CXR who died were not for ITU treatment, thus co-morbidities and frailty may have been significant contributory factors Conclusion: In those hospitalised with COVID-19, a normal CXR on arrival serves as a particularly good predictor of an uncomplicated admission (without the need for CPAP or ITU);and is associated with significantly reduced risk of mortality