Radiology Publishes WHO Rapid Advice Guide on Chest Imaging for COVID-19

July 30, 2020 — A World Health Organization (WHO) rapid advice guide on the use of chest imaging in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 was published in the journal Radiology.

The rapid guide includes three diagnosis recommendations and four management recommendations covering patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 with different levels of disease severity, throughout the care pathway from outpatient facility or hospital entry to home discharge. It also offers considerations about implementation, monitoring and evaluation and identifies research needs.

This guide is primarily intended for health professionals involved in the diagnosis of COVID-19 and in the management of COVID-19 patients, but can also benefit hospital managers and planners, policymakers, hospital architects, biomedical engineers, medical physicists, logistics staff, and control officers involved in water/sanitation and infection prevention.

The purpose of the guide is to support WHO Member States in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic by providing up-to-date guidance on use of chest imaging in adult patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, including chest radiography, computed tomography and lung ultrasound. It covers the care pathway from outpatient facility or hospital entry to home discharge. The guidance is provided for patients with different levels of disease severity, from asymptomatic individuals to critically ill patients.

For more information: www.pubs.rsna.org