Radiomorphological signs and clinical severity of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7

Judit Simon; Kajetan Grodecki; Sebastian Cadet; Aditya Killekar; Piotr Slomka; Samuel James Zara; Emese Zsarnóczay; Chiara Nardocci; Norbert Nagy; Katalin Kristóf; Barna Vásárhelyi; Veronika Müller; Béla Merkely; Damini Dey; Pál Maurovich-Horvat

doi:10.1259/bjro.20220016

Radiomorphological signs and clinical severity of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7

BJR Open. 2022 May 6;4(1):20220016. doi: 10.1259/bjro.20220016. eCollection 2022.

Affiliations

¹ Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA.
² Medical Imaging Centre, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
³ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
⁴ Department of Pulmonology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
⁵ MTA-SE Cardiovascular Imaging Research Group, Heart and Vascular Center, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to assess the differences in the severity and chest-CT radiomorphological signs of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 and non-B.1.1.7 variants.

Methods: We collected clinical data of consecutive patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and chest-CT imaging who were admitted to the Emergency Department between September 1- November 13, 2020 (non-B.1.1.7 cases) and March 1-March 18, 2021 (B.1.1.7 cases). We also examined the differences in the severity and radiomorphological features associated with COVID-19 pneumonia. Total pneumonia burden (%), mean attenuation of ground-glass opacities and consolidation were quantified using deep-learning research software.

Results: The final population comprised 500 B.1.1.7 and 500 non-B.1.1.7 cases. Patients with B.1.1.7 infection were younger (58.5 ± 15.6 vs 64.8 ± 17.3; p < .001) and had less comorbidities. Total pneumonia burden was higher in the B.1.1.7 patient group (16.1% [interquartile range (IQR):6.0-34.2%] vs 6.6% [IQR:1.2-18.3%]; p < .001). In the age-specific analysis, in patients <60 years B.1.1.7 pneumonia had increased consolidation burden (0.1% [IQR:0.0-0.7%] vs 0.1% [IQR:0.0-0.2%]; p < .001), and severe COVID-19 was more prevalent (11.5% vs 4.9%; p = .032). Mortality rate was similar in all age groups.

Conclusion: Despite B.1.1.7 patients were younger and had fewer comorbidities, they experienced more severe disease than non-B.1.1.7 patients, however, the risk of death was the same between the two groups.

Advances in knowledge: Our study provides data on deep-learning based quantitative lung lesion burden and clinical outcomes of patients infected by B.1.1.7 VOC. Our findings might serve as a model for later investigations, as new variants are emerging across the globe.