Kronbichler, Andreas; Kresse, Daniela; Yoon, Sojung; Lee, Keum Hwa; Effenberger, Maria; Shin, Jae Il
International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases
2020Sep ; 98 ( 3 ) :180-186.
PMID : 32562846
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Kronbichler, Andreas - Department of Internal Medicine IV (Nephrology and Hypertension), Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Kresse, Daniela - Department of Internal Medicine, St. Johann County Hospital, St. Johann in Tirol,
Yoon, Sojung - Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Lee, Keum Hwa - Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of
Effenberger, Maria - Department of Internal Medicine I (Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology &
Shin, Jae Il - Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by an unpredictable disease course, ranging from asymptomatic to severe, life-threatening infections. Asymptomatic COVID-19 infections have been described, and the aim of this systematic review was to summarise their presentation forms.
METHODS: We searched PubMed® and Google® (1 December 2019 to 29 March 2020) and extracted age, laboratory findings, and computed tomography (CT) scans. Pooled incidence rates of clinical characteristics were analyzed using random-effect models.
RESULTS: In total, 506 patients from 34 studies (68 single cases and 438 from case-series) with an asymptomatic course were identified. Patients with normal radiology were younger (19.59 ± 17.17 years) than patients with abnormal radiology (39.14 ± 26.70 years) (p-value = 0.013). Despite being asymptomatic, CT investigations revealed abnormalities in 62.2% of the cases; ground-glass opacities were most frequently observed (43.09% by meta-analysis). Most studies reported normal laboratory findings (61.74% by meta-analysis).
CONCLUSIONS: More than half of the patients without any symptoms present with CT abnormalities. Asymptomatic patients may be contagious and thus a potential source of transmission of COVID-19. CI - Copyright ??2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
keyword
Asymptomatic; Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19); Meta-analysis; SARS-CoV-2
MESH
*Betacoronavirus, *Coronavirus Infections/diagnostic imaging, Disease Progression, Humans, *Pandemics, *Pneumonia, Viral/diagnostic imaging, Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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