is computed tomography necessary for the diagnosis of coronavirus disease (covid–19) in all suspected patients? a case series

Coronavirus disease 2019 (covid–19), reported pandemic in march 2020, is the current health problem with no definite prevention or treatment. as a newly emerging disease, new cases are reported each day to add to the physician’s knowledge about the best clinical approach. one of the controversies in this regard is the gold standard diagnostic method. evidence suggests that polymerase chain reaction (rt–pcr) for coronavirus nucleic acid has a low sensitivity and computed tomography (ct) has been suggested for more accurate diagnosis. yet, ct has the disadvantage of radiation and is not safe in all patients. here, we present a case series of 23 patients who underwent both rt–pcr and ct and report the outcome.