Investigation of Pulmonary Artery and Ascending Aorta Morphology in the Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Radioanatomical Study.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine the maximum diameters of the pulmonary artery and ascending aorta and their ratio to each other to enable early diagnosis and treatment of possible pulmonary hypertension and to prevent possible complications in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A total of 120 patients aged 40 years and older, 60 patients (30 females and 30 males) with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and 60 individuals (30 females and 30 males), were included in this retrospective study. Maximum pulmonary artery and maximum ascending aorta diameters were measured at the level of bifurcatio trunci pulmonalis in the transverse axial plane by computed tomography, and their ratios to each other were determined.

RESULTS

Our study revealed a statistically significant increase in maximum pulmonary artery and maximum ascending aorta diameters in both genders in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 compared to the control group and a statistically significant increase was found in the maximum pulmonary artery-maximum ascending aorta ratio in women with coronavirus disease 2019 compared to the control group (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Knowing the diameters of maximum pulmonary artery and maximum ascending aorta and the maximum pulmonary artery-maximum ascending aorta ratio in hospitalized severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-infected patients is a valuable predictive marker of pulmonary hypertension and a guide in determining the appropriate treatment. These data, which are easy to calculate from thorax computed tomography, may be beneficial in the prognosis of the disease.