On this episode, Alicia Chen, MD takes a closer look at a very timely new AJR article titled, “Lung US Findings in Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) Patients” by Yao Zhang and colleagues from Beijing Ditan Hospital and Peking University Third Hospital. Compared to CT, ultrasound is portable, less costly, and does not use radiation. These characteristics suggest ultrasound could be particularly useful tool for triage, particularly in the pre-hospital/outpatient setting, and severity stratification and monitoring, particularly of critically ill patients who may be challenging to transport and require careful ventilation management. This study demonstrates that lung ultrasound has a high sensitivity for COVID-19 pneumonia in moderate and severe disease and that sonographic findings can suggest infection length and severity. Ultrasound is a promising adjunct modality for COVID-19 management.  

Full article: https://www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.20.23513