en Infectious Diseases Infectious Diseases Original Article Original Article <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong><em>Background:</em></strong></span> In the current COVID-19 pandemic, there is a rising need for a rapid and reliable diagnostic tool. We hypothesized that chest computed tomography (CT) can be a potential alternative for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).<br> The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of chest CT and RT-PCR in Iranian patients with suspected COVID-19.<br> <span style="color:#0000ff;"><em><strong>Methods: </strong></em></span>In a retrospective, single-center case series, 568 consecutive hospitalized or outpatient patients with suspected COVID-19 underwent chest CT and/or RT-PCR testing at Imam Reza Hospital, the tertiary teaching hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Iran, from February 21 and March 28, 2020.<br> <strong><span style="color:#0000ff;"><em>Results:</em></span> </strong>The sensitivity of chest CT for signifying COVID-19 was 64% (95% CI: 56%&ndash;71%) on the basis of positive RT-PCR results as a standard method. CT imaging also had a specificity of 77% (95% CI: 73%&ndash;81%), positive predictive value of 35% (95% CI: 0.31&ndash;0.39), negative predictive value of 66% (95% CI: 0.61&ndash;0.69), positive&nbsp;likelihood&nbsp;ratio of 2.79 (95% CI: 2.26&ndash;3.46), and negative likelihood&nbsp;ratio of 0.47 (95% CI: 0.38&ndash;0.57).<br> <span style="color:#0000ff;"><em><strong>Conclusion:</strong></em></span><strong> </strong>Chest CT had higher specificity than RT-PCR in the diagnosis of COVID-19<del cite="mailto:MRT%20www.Win2Farsi.com" datetime="2020-09-21T21:52">, </del><ins cite="mailto:MRT%20www.Win2Farsi.com" datetime="2020-09-21T21:52">. </ins>Therefore, it can play a crucial role in the early diagnosis. Similar to the previous studies, the typical CT features were patchy ground-glass opacities as well as peripheral aspects of the lungs consolidations.</span></span> Sensitivity, Specificity, Chest CT, RT-PCR, COVID-19 527 530 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1835-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Hanieh Salehi-Pourmehr poormehrh@yahoo.com 100319475328460026219 100319475328460026219 No Research center for Evidence-Based- Medicine, Iranian EBM Center: A Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Center of Excellence, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Hojjat Pourfathi hojjatpourfathi@yahoo.com 100319475328460026220 100319475328460026220 No Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Mohammad Kazem Tarzamni tarzamni@yahoo.com 100319475328460026221 100319475328460026221 No Radiology Department, Medical Radiation Sciences Research Group, Imam Reza Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Morteza Ghojazadeh Ghojazadehm@tbzmed.ac.ir 100319475328460026222 100319475328460026222 No Research center for Evidence-Based- Medicine, Iranian EBM Center: A Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Center of Excellence, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Behrooz Naghili naghilib@tbzmed.ac.ir 100319475328460026223 100319475328460026223 No Research Center for Infectious and Tropical Disease, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Armin Zarrintan zarrintanarmin@gmail.com 100319475328460026224 100319475328460026224 No Department of Radiology, Imam Reza Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Reza Mehdipour Mehdipourr@yahoo.com 100319475328460026225 100319475328460026225 No Research center for Evidence based- medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 5166614756, Tabriz, Iran. Sakineh Hajebrahimi hajebrahimis@gmail.com 100319475328460026226 100319475328460026226 Yes Research center for Evidence-Based- Medicine, Iranian EBM Center: A Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Center of Excellence, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.