COVID-19 and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever: Is there any Similarity in Chest Radiology?

Objective: While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was continuing at full speed, patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), which is endemic in our region, apply to the emergency department simultaneously. The presence of computed tomography (CT) lesions suggesting COVID-19 in some CCHF patients has brought to our mind the question of whether there is CCHF lung involvement even though respiratory symptoms are not at the forefront.

Methods: In this study, the findings of chest CT, demographic data and clinical symptoms of cases who had thorax tomography scan with suspicion of COVID-19 in the emergency department in the spring and summer of 2020 and were diagnosed with CCHF as a result of the evaluation and followed up in our clinic were compared with the findings of COVID-19 cases that were hospitalized and treated in the same period.

Results: Seventy-seven COVID-19 and 25 CCHF cases were included in the study. Myalgia, headache, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting were significantly higher in CCHF patients ( p<0.05). Cough was significantly more common in COVID-19 patients ( p=0.034). Ground-glass opacity (GGO) was the most common tomography finding in CCHF, and cases without lung involvement were significantly higher (p=0.001). GGO, consolidation, vascularization, atelectasis band, reverse halo, air-bubble, nodule were significantly high in COVID-19 patients.

Conclusion: During the epidemic period, no pathological finding was found in thoracic CT in most of the CCHF cases, and the presence of involvement in the lung tomography in cases with similar clinical and laboratory findings should primarily suggest the diagnosis of COVID-19.