Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37649952›Full record

ArticleCureus2023

Abdominal Imaging Findings in Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Tareq Al Taei, Zainab Yusuf, Sarah Al Mail, Fatema Bunajem, Bedor Abdulrahim, Marwa Meshkhas, Khaled Sulail

Open access · diamondAbstract read
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Article in Cureus, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact, top 87% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 0 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Tareq Al TaeiRadiology, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, BHR.
Zainab YusufRadiology, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, BHR.
Sarah Al MailRadiology, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, BHR.
Fatema BunajemRadiology, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, BHR.
Bedor AbdulrahimRadiology, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, BHR.
Marwa MeshkhasRadiology, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, BHR.
Khaled SulailRadiology, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, BHR.
Salmaniya Medical Complex · BH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

aimCoronavirus disease 2019 (CO-VID-19) is known to predominantly present with respiratory symptoms; however, a significant proportion of patients present with digestive symptoms. These symptoms are often non-specific and as such prompt the treating physician to request further imaging evaluation. Understanding the abdominal imaging findings in COVID-19 and their possible associations is thus crucial to direct patient care and prevent misdiagnosis. The aim of this study was to describe abdominal imaging findings on both computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound scans in cases with positive COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests performed at our institution, and also, to evaluate the reason for requesting these imaging studies, and to correlate these findings with patients' demographics.

methodsA retrospective observational study was conducted at Salmaniya Medical Complex, Bahrain, between February 2021 and March 2022. We examined the abdominal CT and ultrasound data for PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients. The demographic data, reason for requesting imaging and imaging findings were gathered by reviewing the hospital's electronic health records and picture archiving and communicating system (PACS).

resultsThe study included 97 patients, with the majority being male (57.7%). The most common reason for imaging was abdominal pain, as seen in over half of the patients (60.8%), followed by deranged liver enzymes (18.6%). More than 75% of imaging studies showed positive abdominal findings with the majority (19.6%) showing non-specific inflammatory findings, followed by gallbladder disease (13.4%). The CT studies were more likely to yield positive findings as compared to ultrasound, with only 7 (11.3%) CT scans yielding normal findings (χ

conclusionTo our knowledge, the research conducted on the abdominal manifestations of COVID-19 is still limited, especially in our region. Our study showed that there are variable presentations of abdominal organ involvement in COVID-19 cases, and as such more data is required to direct choice of imaging study, protocol, and interpretation of findings to better guide patient management.

Indexed as

abdominal paincovid-19gall blader diseasegastro-intestinalultra-sonography

Identifiers

PMID37649952
PMCPMC10463944
OpenAlexW4385388963

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.