Purpose: To investigate the clinico-radiological findings and outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19 pneumonia compared to age-matched non-pregnant women.
Methods: A retrospective case-controlled study was conducted to review clinical and CT data of 21 pregnant and 19 age-matched non-pregnant women with COVID-19 pneumonia. Four stages of CT images were analyzed and compared based on the time interval from symptom onset: stage 1 (0– 6 days), stage 2 (7– 9 days), stage 3 (10– 16 days), and stage 4 (> 16 days). The initial and follow-up data were analyzed and compared.
Results: Compared with age-matched non-pregnant women, initial absence of fever (13/21, 62%) and normal lymphocyte count (11/21, 52%) were more frequent in pregnant group. The predominant patterns of lung lesions were pure ground-glass opacity (GGO), GGO with consolidation or reticulation, and pure consolidation in both groups. Pure consolidation on chest CT was more common at presentation in pregnant cases. Pregnant women progressed with a higher consolidation frequency compared with non-pregnant group in stage 2 (95% vs 82%). Improvement was identified in stages 3 and 4 for both groups, but consolidation was still more frequent for pregnant women in stage 4. Most patients (38/40, 95%) were grouped as mild or common type. The length of hospitalization between the two groups was similar.
Conclusion: Pregnant women with COVID-19 pneumonia did not present typical clinical features, while developing a relatively more severe disease at imaging with a slower recovery course and experiencing similar outcomes compared with the non-pregnant women.
Keywords: COVID-19, pregnancy, computed tomography, outcome