Chest CT Computerized Aided Quantification of PNEUMONIA Lesions in COVID-19 Infection: A Comparison among Three Commercial Software

Roberto Grassi, Salvatore Cappabianca, Fabrizio Urraro, Beatrice Feragalli, Alessandro Montanelli, Gianluigi Patelli, Vincenza Granata, Giuliana Giacobbe, Gaetano Maria Russo, Assunta Grillo, Angela De Lisio, Cesare Paura, Alfredo Clemente, Giuliano Gagliardi, Simona Magliocchetti, Diletta Cozzi, Roberta Fusco, Maria Paola Belfiore, Roberta Grassi and Vittorio Miele
Additional contact information
Roberto Grassi: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Salvatore Cappabianca: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Fabrizio Urraro: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Beatrice Feragalli: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences—Radiology Unit “G. D’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
Alessandro Montanelli: Laboratory Medicine Unit, ASST Bergamo Est, 24068 Seriate, Italy
Gianluigi Patelli: Department of Radiology, ASST Bergamo Est, 24068 Seriate, Italy
Vincenza Granata: Radiology Division, “Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS Fondazione Pascale—IRCCS di Napoli”, 80131 Naples, Italy
Giuliana Giacobbe: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Gaetano Maria Russo: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Assunta Grillo: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Angela De Lisio: Diagnostic Imaging Unit, “Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale Giuseppe Moscati”, 83100 Avellino, Italy
Cesare Paura: Diagnostic Imaging Unit, “Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale Giuseppe Moscati”, 83100 Avellino, Italy
Alfredo Clemente: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Giuliano Gagliardi: Diagnostic Imaging Unit, “Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale Giuseppe Moscati”, 83100 Avellino, Italy
Simona Magliocchetti: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Diletta Cozzi: Division of Radiodiagnostic, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, 50139 Firenze, Italy
Roberta Fusco: Radiology Division, “Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS Fondazione Pascale—IRCCS di Napoli”, 80131 Naples, Italy
Maria Paola Belfiore: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Roberta Grassi: Division of Radiodiagnostic, “Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Vittorio Miele: Division of Radiodiagnostic, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, 50139 Firenze, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-15

Abstract: Purpose: To compare different commercial software in the quantification of Pneumonia Lesions in COVID-19 infection and to stratify the patients based on the disease severity using on chest computed tomography (CT) images. Materials and methods: We retrospectively examined 162 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. All cases were evaluated separately by radiologists (visually) and by using three computer software programs: (1) Thoracic VCAR software, GE Healthcare, United States; (2) Myrian, Intrasense, France; (3) InferRead, InferVision Europe, Wiesbaden, Germany. The degree of lesions was visually scored by the radiologist using a score on 5 levels (none, mild, moderate, severe, and critic). The parameters obtained using the computer tools included healthy residual lung parenchyma, ground-glass opacity area, and consolidation volume. Intraclass coefficient (ICC), Spearman correlation analysis, and non-parametric tests were performed. Results: Thoracic VCAR software was not able to perform volumes segmentation in 26/162 (16.0%) cases, Myrian software in 12/162 (7.4%) patients while InferRead software in 61/162 (37.7%) patients. A great variability (ICC ranged for 0.17 to 0.51) was detected among the quantitative measurements of the residual healthy lung parenchyma volume, GGO, and consolidations volumes calculated by different computer tools. The overall radiological severity score was moderately correlated with the residual healthy lung parenchyma volume obtained by ThoracicVCAR or Myrian software, with the GGO area obtained by the ThoracicVCAR tool and with consolidation volume obtained by Myrian software. Quantified volumes by InferRead software had a low correlation with the overall radiological severity score. Conclusions: Computer-aided pneumonia quantification could be an easy and feasible way to stratify COVID-19 cases according to severity; however, a great variability among quantitative measurements provided by computer tools should be considered.

Keywords: COVID-19; computed tomography; computer-aided quantification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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