Lung ultrasound shows duration, severity of coronavirus disease (COVID-
19)

Date:
July 23, 2020
Source:
American Roentgen Ray Society
Summary:
A new study found that lung ultrasound was highly sensitive
for detecting abnormalities in patients with coronavirus disease
(COVID-19), with B- lines, a thickened pleural line, and pulmonary
consolidation the most commonly observed features. Additionally,
the authors found that lung ultrasound features can be used to
reflect both the infection duration and disease severity.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== According to an open-access article published in ARRS' American Journal
of Roentgenology (AJR), lung ultrasound (US) was highly sensitive for
detecting abnormalities in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19),
with B-lines, a thickened pleural line, and pulmonary consolidation the
most commonly observed features.


==========================================================================
"In addition," concluded Yao Zhang of at China's Beijing Ditan Hospital,
"our results indicate that lung US findings can be used to reflect
both the infection duration and disease severity." From March 3 to
March 30, 2020, Zhang and colleagues performed lung US on consecutive
patients with positive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction
(RTPCR) test results for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus
2 (SARS-CoV-2), using the Fisher exact test to compare the percentages
of patients with each US finding between groups with different symptom durations and disease severity.

All 28 patients (14 men and 14 women; age range, 21-92 years) had
positive findings on both lung US and chest CT. On US, B-lines were
present in 100% of patients, and 19 (67.9%) patients had pulmonary consolidation. Thickened pleural lines were observed in 17 patients
(60.7%), and only one patient (3.6%) showed a small amount of pleural
effusion.

"A thickened pleural line was more frequently observed on US in patients
with longer time intervals after the initial onset of symptoms," Zhang
et al. noted, adding that pulmonary consolidations -- visualized as
tissuelike hypoechoic regions, reflecting highly reduced air flow and
increased quantity of inflammatory cellular exudate -- were more common
in severe and critical cases.

Acknowledging that portable radiography could be just as useful in
evaluating consolidation, "a bedside portable, handheld US system or
even a robot-assisted tele-US system (a unique technique for physicians
to remotely scan patients) further minimizes the number of health care
workers and medical devices exposed to COVID-19," wrote Zhang and team.

The authors of this AJR article also proposed that severity scoring for
lung US, similar to CT severity scores, should be developed to facilitate
more accurate comparisons in future studies.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Roentgen_Ray_Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Yao Zhang, Heng Xue, Mixue Wang, Nan He, Zhibin Lv, Ligang Cui. Lung
Ultrasound Findings in Patients With Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).

American Journal of Roentgenology, 2020; 1 DOI: 10.2214/AJR.20.23513 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200723115853.htm

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