Mario Jose Rodriguez 1 , Aniruddha Purushottam Rangari 2
BACKGROUND Dengue fever is considered to be the most common acute vector-borne viral infection affecting man. The WHO estimates more than 50 million cases spread over more than 100 countries occur worldwide every year. Despite this abundance of case material, limited articles with regard to the CT findings in dengue fever are noted in the published literature. The aim of the study is to characterise and evaluate the CT findings in Dengue fever in patients with severe disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS Abdomen and chest CT findings of 22 patients with severe DHF in a 3-month period from June to August 2017 were evaluated in a hospital setting in a semiurban location in Kerala, India. Those patients who underwent both abdomen as well as chest CT exams as part of their workup were categorised in WHO DHF grade I-IV. RESULTS The commonest chest CT findings were pleural effusion (n=19), atelectasis (n=16), ground-glass opacification (n=9), patchy consolidation (n=7) thickening of the peribronchovascular interstitium (n=3) and pericardial effusion (n=1). The commonest abdomen CT findings were ascites (n=16), gallbladder wall thickening (n=14), hepatomegaly (n=10), splenomegaly (n=8), pancreatitis/bulky oedematous pancreas (n=3), perinephric haematoma (n=1) and appendicitis (n=1). CONCLUSION The study documents the common findings on chest and abdomen CT. The most frequently detected findings on chest CT were pleural effusion, atelectasis and ground-glass opacification, while the most commonly occurring abdomen CT findings were ascites, gallbladder wall thickening, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly.
