Skip to main content

Table 5 Diagnostic clues for COVID-19 mimicker

From: Imaging of COVID-19 simulators

Final diagnosis

Diagnostic clues

Number of cases

Clinical history

Pleural/cardiac involvement

Pulmonary parenchymal involvement

Laboratory/biopsy

Bronchial asthma

History of bronchial asthma

 

Emphysematous changes

Subpleural sparing

Bronchiactasis

Peribronchial thickening

Centrilobular nodules due to superadded infection

 

3

Eosinophilic lung

Churg-Strauss syndrome

History of bronchial asthma, sinusitis

Pleural effusion

 

Peripheral eosinophilia

1

Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome

Clinical history, skin rash

Pleural effusion

 

Peripheral eosinophilia

1

Loffler syndrome

  

Fleeting opacities

Peripheral blood eosinophilia and high IgE level

Elevated eosinophilic count on bronchoalveolar lavage

1

H1N1

   

PCR test revealed HINI virus

1

ARDS

Clinical criteria

 

Bilateral basal dense consolidation on a background of diffuse GGO in the non-dependent regions with bronchial dilatation in GGO and crazy paving appearance

 

3

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis

Clinical history of exposure to antigen (Bird Fancier’s Disease)

Reproduction of symptoms following exposure

 

Poorly defined centrilobular nodules

Headcheese lung in subacute phase

Lymphocytosis on bronchoalveolar lavage

4

RB-ILD

History of smoking

No fever

 

Ground-glass opacities and centrilobular nodules

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) findings (the presence of smokers’ macrophages and the absence of lymphocytosis)

Proved by biopsy

2

Amiodarone lung

History of drug intake

 

Peripheral patches

Pulmonary nodules and septal thickening

Fiberoptic bronchoscopy with BAL and transbronchial biopsy

1

SLE with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage

History of SLE, hemoptysis.

 

Upper lobe predominance, confluent consolidation sparing costophrenic angles and the lung periphery.

 

1

Trauma

History of recent trauma

Pneumothorax

  

5

Atypical bacterial infection

Mycoplasma bronchopneumonia

 

Pleural effusion

Peribronchial thickening, confined to lobes

 

1

Staph-penumonia

  

GGO peribronchial thickening and pneumatocele

 

1

Other bacterial pneumonia

  

Unilateral lung affection

Tree in bud

Bronchiectasis

 

6

Alveolar sarcoid

History of sarcoid

No fever

 

Upper lobe affection, peribronchial thickening, mediastinal lymph nodes

 

1

Acute Interstitial Pneumonia

Acute symptoms like ARDS

 

Bilateral asymmetric confluent GGO with consolidative patches more in the lower lobes

Proved by transbronchial biopsy

1

Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia

 

Pleural effusion

Atoll sign

Subpleural sparing

Confirmed by histopathological correlation

2

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis

  

Asymmetric lung involvement with crazy paving appearance

Confirmed by bronchoalveolar lavage

1

Metastatic Calcifications with renal failure

History of renal failure

 

High-density centrilobular ground glass nodules with superadded infection

 

1

Cardiogenic pulmonary edema

Clinical history

Enlarged cardiac size +/− pericardial effusion, dilated pulmonary trunk, bilateral pleural effusion,

Thickened interlobular septal, peri-lymphatic, and peribronchovascular thickening

Perihilar distribution of ground glass opacities (bat wing)

 

3