COVID19 and Point of Care Lung Ultrasound

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COVID19 has presented many difficult challenges in its diagnosis and managment. This is no truer than bedside lung evaluation. Personal protective equipment can be prohibitive of adequate lung ausculation and the use of a stethoscope is discouraged by some as it is considered a high risk fomite. Fortunately, point of care ultrasound (POCUS) continues to be an important tool in the emergency provider’s toolbox for decision support and risk stratification. It is quick to perform, easy to interpret, and may be done quickly at the bedside. To help us quickly understand the technique, findings and evidence behind lung POCUS for the COVID19 (+) or suspected patient, ultrasound fellow Dr. Christopher Allison has crafted us a high yield infographic.

 
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REFERENCES

  1. Buonsenso D. et al. Point-of-Care Lung Ultrasound findings in novel coronavirus disease-19 pnemoniae: a case report and potential applications during COVID-19 outbreak. European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. 2020 Mar;24(5):2776-2780.[Pdf]

  2. Peng QY et al. Findings of lung ultrasonography of novel corona virus pneumonia during the 2019–2020 epidemic. Intensive Care Med. 2020 Mar 12.[Pubmed]

  3. Huang Y et al. A Preliminary Study on the Ultrasonic Manifestations of Peripulmonary Lesions of Non-Critical Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (COVID-19) (February 26, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3544750 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3544750

  4. Pan F et al. Time Course of Lung Changes On Chest CT During Recovery From 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pneumonia. Radiology. Published online Feb 13 2020. [Pdf]

  5. AI T. et al. Correlation of Chest CT and RT-PCR Testing in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China: A Report of 1014 Cases. Radiology. 2020 Feb 26:200642.  [Pdf]

Produced by Christopher Allison, MD

Ultrasound Fellow, Maine Medical Center