Anatomical variants identified on chest computed tomography of 1000+ COVID-19 patients from an open-access dataset
Issued Date
2022-09-01
Resource Type
ISSN
08973806
eISSN
10982353
DOI
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85128299625
Pubmed ID
35385153
Journal Title
Clinical Anatomy
Volume
35
Issue
6
Start Page
723
End Page
731
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Clinical Anatomy Vol.35 No.6 (2022) , 723-731
Suggested Citation
Yurasakpong L., Asuvapongpatana S., Weerachatyanukul W., Meemon K., Jongkamonwiwat N., Kruepunga N., Chaiyamoon A., Sudsang T., Iwanaga J., Tubbs R.S., Suwannakhan A. Anatomical variants identified on chest computed tomography of 1000+ COVID-19 patients from an open-access dataset. Clinical Anatomy Vol.35 No.6 (2022) , 723-731. 731. doi:10.1002/ca.23873 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/85618
Title
Anatomical variants identified on chest computed tomography of 1000+ COVID-19 patients from an open-access dataset
Author's Affiliation
St. George's University Grenada
Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University
Ochsner Health System
Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University
Tulane University School of Medicine
Mahidol University
Kurume University School of Medicine
In Silico and Clinical Anatomy Research Group (iSCAN)
Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University
Ochsner Health System
Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University
Tulane University School of Medicine
Mahidol University
Kurume University School of Medicine
In Silico and Clinical Anatomy Research Group (iSCAN)
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Chest computed tomography (CT) has been the preferred imaging modality during the pandemic owing to its sensitivity in detecting COVID-19 infections. Recently, a large number of COVID-19 imaging datasets have been deposited in public databases, leading to rapid advances in COVID-19 research. However, the application of these datasets beyond COVID-19-related research has been little explored. The authors believe that they could be used in anatomical research to elucidate the link between anatomy and disease and to study disease-related alterations to normal anatomy. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the prevalence of six well-known anatomical variants in the thorax using open-access CT images obtained from over 1000 Iranian COVID-19 patients aged between 6 and 89 years (60.9% male and 39.1% female). In brief, we found that the azygos lobe, tracheal bronchus, and cardiac bronchus were present in 0.8%, 0.2%, and 0% of the patients, respectively. Variations of the sternum, including sternal foramen, episternal ossicles, and sternalis muscle, were observed in 9.6%, 2.9%, and 1.5%, respectively. We believe anatomists could benefit from using open-access datasets as raw materials for research because these datasets are freely accessible and are abundant, though further research is needed to evaluate the uses of other datasets from different body regions and imaging modalities. Radiologists should also be aware of these common anatomical variants when examining lung CTs, especially since the use of this imaging modality has increased during the pandemic.