Uncertainty around diagnostic testing for the coronavirus has been a dilemma for clinicians throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to low reported sensitivities for molecular testing, CT evaluation of persons under investigation (PUIs) has become more popular as a supplement to RT-PCR testing. A common occurrence is for a PUI to repeatedly test negative for COVID-19 yet their chest CT imaging findings are consistent with COVID-19. When this is the case, what does the treating team do?
In order to address this dilemma, a team of physicians from the UC San Francisco Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SF VAMC) have worked on and presented a framework for how to weigh repeatedly negative test results in clinical decision making when there is ongoing concern for COVID-19.
In order to display provide this framework,…
