No. of views : (3759)
For knowing Coronavirus status of a person-Huge demand for chest CT scans now over RT-PCR tests
Posted on: 31/Jul/2020 9:51:12 AM
The business of the private scan centres in the state of Tamil Nadu has increased now!!
The news is there is a surge in the demand for chest CT scan to know about the status regarding Coronavirus infection in a person.
It is well known that RT-PCR tests results get delayed and people are very anxious to know the results fast. The people now prefer chest CT scan over RT-PCR tests for Coronavirus as it could provide results in quick time.
Coronavirus infection is indicated by ground glass appearance of lungs. Information collected is the private scan centres in TN charge an amount of Rs 4500 to Rs 5000 for a CT scan and the huge demand has not brought down the rates. There are few advantages that make the doctors ask the patients for the CT scan ahead of RT-PCR tests.
According to the doctors, CT scan is more reliable than the RT-PCR lab tests. The time taken for the tests is anywhere between 7 hours to a week in TN. This would lead to delay in the diagnosis of the infection and further delay in the treatment.
It is worthy to note that all the private hospitals in TN insist on the Covid-19 negative reports and they admit and initiate treatment based on the CT scan report. It was brought out by a senior surgeon that if the reports revealed ground glass appearance in the chest then the patient is kept under isolation till test reports are received.
A resident belonging to iyyappanthangal in Chennai spoke about how some hospitals force even a non-covid patient to undergo CT scan along with a swab test and how this would be very expensive. These days with lots of information available on the internet, people insist on chest CT scans also after giving their swan samples for testing to be on the safer side.
