Cardiothoracic imaging in patients affected by COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), caused a global pandemic that severely impacted hospital services. Although the first-line tool for the diagnosis of COVID-19 is real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), imaging techniques play a pivotal role in the early recognition of lung disease and cardiovascular involvement, risk stratification, and guiding and evaluating treatment response. The radiology departments were reorganized to ensure the correct managing of patients, limiting the risk of contamination while continuing to provide essential services. The aim of this review is to assess the role of imaging investigations available for the cardiothoracic evaluation of patients affected by COVID-19 infection, describing the main radiological hallmarks associated with the disease.