Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Imaging and Intervention, cilt.1, sa.1, ss.1-5, 2021 (Hakemli Dergi)
Background: Both human laterality and the COVID-19 pandemic are popular subjects for scientific research studies. Diverse studies are still being performed in both areas. Imaging, especially computerized tomography (CT), plays an important role in the diagnosis and follow-up of COVID-19 pneumonia cases, as well as defining the disease severity. In the current study, we mainly aim to define the distribution of the laterality among COVID-19 cases. Also, we intend to investigate the possible effect of laterality on disease severity and the relation of the laterality with the tracheal anatomy.
Methods: Patients who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and who accepted to participate in the study between January 2020 and December 2020 were included. Handedness of the patients was defined using an adapted version of the Edinburg Handedness Inventory. CT images were used to define disease severity and measure bronchial angles.
Results: The mean age of the study population was 59.69 ± 16.92 years (19-98 years). Seventy-seven patients were male (43.70%) and 99 patients were female (56.30%). Of the group, 161 patients were right-handed (91.50%) and 15 patients were left-handed (8.50%). Mean bronchial angles did not differ significantly according to handedness. No significant correlation was detected between severity scores (for each lobe and total scores) and bronchial angles.
Conclusion: The handedness ratio of COVID-19 pneumonia patients was similar to that of the general population. We could not define a significant relation between handedness and pneumonia severity, either. Branching angles of the bronchus did not differ significantly with the handedness, and pneumonia severity was not related to the bronchial branching angles.