{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T04:43:16Z","timestamp":1760244196679,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,7]],"date-time":"2022-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1662508800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JPM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The purpose of this study was to compare COVID-19 patients\u2019 vessel caliber with that of normal lungs and lungs affected by other inflammatory and thromboembolic processes. Methods: between March and April 2020, 42 patients affected by COVID-19 pneumonia (COV-P) underwent CT scans of the lungs at Verona University Hospital for clinical indications. The lung images of four different groups of patients were compared (normal lung (NL), distal thromboembolism (DTE), and bacterial and fungal pneumonia (Bact-P, Fung-P)) by a radiologist with four years of experience. Results: The COV-P patients\u2019 segmental and subsegmental vessels, evaluated as the ratio with the corresponding bronchial branch (V\/B ratio), were larger, with respect to the NL the DTE groups, in the apparently healthy parenchyma, a result confirmed in the zones of opacification with respect to the Bact-P and Fung-P groups. Conclusions: This was the first study to show, by comparative analysis, that COVID-19 patients\u2019 segmental and subsegmental vessel calibers are significantly enlarged. This is a distinctive feature of COVID-19 pneumonia, suggesting its distinct pathophysiology as compared to other inflammatory and thromboembolic diseases and alerting radiologists to consider it when evaluating the CT scans of suspected patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jpm12091465","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,8]],"date-time":"2022-09-08T01:40:13Z","timestamp":1662601213000},"page":"1465","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Caliber of Segmental and Subsegmental Vessels in COVID-19 Pneumonia Is Enlarged: A Distinctive Feature in Comparison with Other Forms of Inflammatory and Thromboembolic Diseases"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Maria-Chiara","family":"Ambrosetti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Radiology, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Policlinico GB Rossi, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"},{"name":"Radiology Unit, Department of Pathology and Diagnostics, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata-Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giulia","family":"Battocchio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Radiology, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Policlinico GB Rossi, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stefania","family":"Montemezzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiology Unit, Department of Pathology and Diagnostics, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata-Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Filippo","family":"Cattazzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Medicine & Hypertension Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tissjana","family":"Bejko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Medicine & Hypertension Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Evelina","family":"Tacconelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Disease Unit, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5450-2186","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pietro","family":"Minuz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Medicine & Hypertension Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7298-7084","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ernesto","family":"Crisafulli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Respiratory Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8910-7378","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristiano","family":"Fava","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Medicine & Hypertension Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giancarlo","family":"Mansueto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Radiology, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Policlinico GB Rossi, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"727","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2001017","article-title":"A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019","volume":"382","author":"Zhu","year":"2020","journal-title":"N. 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