Effect of lateral decubitus acquisition in accuracy and lung severity estimation of chest computed tomography in children with suspected COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE

To compare inter-rater reliability, diagnostic accuracy, and extension of pulmonary involvement in children with suspected COVID-19 submitted to supine or supine and lateral decubitus computed tomography imaging.

METHODS

Retrospective study carried out between March 2020 and March 2021 with patients submitted to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction testing and chest computed tomography. Patients were divided into two groups: supine or supine and lateral decubitus imaging. Standardized reporting systems of computed tomographic findings in COVID-19 and chest computed tomography score were used.

RESULTS

One hundred and seventeen patients were enrolled. Moderate to substantial inter-rater reliability was observed for standardized reporting systems (weighted kappa, 0.553-0.764; p<0.001). Inter-rater reliability for the chest computed tomography score was substantial (weighted kappa, 0.620-0.670; p<0.001). Standardized reporting systems failed to predict COVID-19 in children, regardless of additional lateral decubitus imaging (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.491-0.608). Chest computed tomography scores assigned to lateral decubitus images were significantly lower.

CONCLUSION

Additional lateral decubitus imaging does not improve the accuracy of standardized reporting systems of computed tomographic findings in COVID-19 but may provide a more accurate estimation of lung involvement in uncooperative patients.