Table 1.
Characteristics and findings of included studies of patients with abnormal abdominal radiologic features
| Studies | N | Age | Gender | Symptoms | Imaging Modality | Abdominal imaging features | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhayana et al. | 42 | 18–90 years | NR | Diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite | CT |
7—colic or rectal thickening 5—small bowel thickening 4—pneumatosis or PV gas 1—perforation |
Suspect thickening is due to ischemia caused by thromboembolic events based on presence of fibrin thrombi |
| Hellinger et al. | 1 | 64 years | NR | Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever | CT | Thickening of small bowel and hyperemia | Suspect radiologic findings are due to SARS-CoV-2 infection of bowel wall, causing mucosal inflammation |
| Kim et al. | 1 | 42 years | Male | Abdominal, testicular and back pain | CT | Thickening of distal descending and sigmoid colon (colitis) | N/A |
| Sattar et al. | 1 | 38 years | Male | Fever, chills, myalgia, dyspnea, abdominal pain, diarrhea | CT | Thickening of ascending, transverse, descending and sigmoid colon and rectum | Suspect thickening is due to inflammation |
| Sattar et al. | 1 | 74 years | Male | Dry cough, abdominal pain | CT | Thickening of proximal transverse colon | Suspect thickening is due to inflammation |
| Sattar et al. | 1 | 55 years | Male | Fever, cough, nausea, constipation, abdominal pain | CT | Colonic ileus and air in bowel wall | |
| Guo et al. | 1 | 29 years | Male | Fever, diarrhea | CT | Mesenteric thickening with segmental wall swelling of jejunum | Suspect thickening is due to viral infection of intestinal mucosa |
| Tang et al. | 1 | 24 years | Male | Abdominal pain, diarrhea, cough, running nose | CT | Thickening of distal, ascending transverse and descending colon | Thickening identified as edema |
| Carvalho et al. | 1 | 71 years | Female | Abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, distention | CT | Thickening of ascending, transverse, descending, and sigmoid colon | Ruling out other causes of hemorrhagic colitis, authors suggest SARS-CoV-2 GI infection was cause of hemorrhagic colitis |
| Jaijakul et al | 1 | 56 years | Male | Fever, dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloody bowel movements | CT | Thickening of ascending, transverse, and descending colon | Suspect thickening is due to viral infection of gastrointestinal epithelia |
| Calinescu et al. | 2 | 10–13 years | NR | Abdominal pain, fever, vomiting | CT | Ileo-colitis | Suspect thickening is due to cytokine storm inflammation |
| Qiu et al. | 1 | 56 years | Female | Abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea | CT | Right colonic mural thickening | |
| Kielty et al. | 1 | 47 years | Male | Fever, dry cough, vomiting | CT | Pneumatosis of jejunum, proximal ileum, and caecum. Also mural thickening and portal venous gas | |
| Meini et al. | 1 | 44 years | Male | Fever, cough, chest pain | CT | Pneumatosis of caecum and right colon | |
| Di Grezia et al. | 3 | NR | NR | NR | NR | Pneumatosis* | |
| Correa Neto et al | 1 | 80 years | Female | Dry persistent cough, fever, dyspnea | CT | Extensive pneumoperitoneum with free intracavitary fluid | Bowel perforation found later with laparotomy |
| Cai et al. | 1 | 10 months | Female | paroxysmal crying, restlessness, vomiting, currant jelly-like stool | Doppler Ultrasound |
Large amount of abdominal dropsy (edema) Intussusception* |
|
| Martinez-Castano et al. | 1 | 6 months | Male | Vomiting, abdominal cramps, currant jelly stools | Ultrasound | Swirled pattern consisting of alternating hyperechogenicity with hypoechogenicity typical of ileocolic intussusception | |
| Rajalakshmi et al. | 1 | 8 months | Male | Fever, vomiting, bloody stool | Ultrasound | Ileocolic intussusception in subxiphoid region | Suggested cause is mucosal inflammatory changes |
| Moazzam et al. | 1 | 4 months | Male | Abdominal pain, reluctance to feed, drawing up of legs towards abdomen, inconsolable crying, rectal bleeding (currant jelly stool) | Ultrasound | Intussusception of bowel loop in right upper quadrant of abdomen | |
| Lu et al. | 1 | 10 months | NR | NR | NR | Intussusception* | |
| Culver et al. | 1 | 71 years | Male | Acute, severe upper GI bleeding | Ultrasound | 6L ascites | Ascitic fluid tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA |
| Behzad et al. | 1 | 31 years | Male | Abdominal discomfort and absent bowel movement | CT and radiograph |
CT—Nonspecific stranding surrounding mildly distended fluid-filled ascending colon Radiograph—ileus pattern |
CT computed tomography, NR not reported
*Condition mentioned but not reported as radiologic finding