Radiology helps solve mystery of rare respiratory disease
Hong Kong physicians have provided some of the first radiological findings of the pneumonia-like condition known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
"The key radiological features include focal or multiple consolidation and ground-glass opacities in the periphery of lungs," said Dr. Jeffrey Wong Ka Tak, a spokesperson for the multidisciplinary task force from the Chinese University of Hong Kong's faculty of medicine at Prince of Wales Hospital that is managing the outbreak.
Clinical symptoms include high fever, chills, cough, difficult breathing, and myalgia. Patients presenting with these symptoms are likely to show positive results with either chest x-ray or CT, according to Wong Ka Tak. The findings, including the imaging protocol CUHK physicians recommend, are available at the Prince of Wales Web site at http://www.droid.cuhk.edu.hk.
"In patients with strong clinical symptoms and positive CXR, the diagnosis is already there," Wong Ka Tak said.
If the initial CXR was negative, CT could help with early diagnosis, he said. As of Monday, CUHK physicians had imaged 150 cases with CXR and 20 with CT.
No radiological evidence of effusion or cavitation has been seen in any of the patients treated so far. Collapse of lung parenchyma, however, will likely occur later during the course of disease, he said.
Hong Kong is the area most seriously affected, with 222 known cases. A World Health Organization report released Monday acknowledged a total of 456 cumulative cases throughout the world. Other affected areas are Singapore, Viet Nam, the U.S., and Canada with 65, 58, 37, and 11 cases, respectively.
The origin of SARS remains unknown, and no single treatment has proved effective. Collaboration among researchers worldwide has produced rapid development of accurate diagnostic tests that may provide clues about its causes, bringing hope for a cure, according to WHO officials.
Images may help centers throughout the world allow an early diagnosis and management of the rare disease, CUHK physicians said.
