Comparison of Chest Ultrasound and Standard X-Ray Imaging in COVID-19
                    Patients

Evgenii Shumilov; Ali Seif Amir Hosseini; Golo Petzold; Hannes Treiber; Joachim Lotz; Volker Ellenrieder; Steffen Kunsch; Albrecht Neesse

doi:10.1055/a-1217-1603

Ultrasound International Open, Table of Contents

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ultrasound Int Open 2020; 06(02): E36-E40
DOI: 10.1055/a-1217-1603

Rapid Communication

Comparison of Chest Ultrasound and Standard X-Ray Imaging in COVID-19 Patients

Authors

Evgenii Shumilov

¹Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany
Ali Seif Amir Hosseini

²Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany
Golo Petzold

³Department of Gastroenterology, Gastrointestinal Oncology and Endocrinology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany
Hannes Treiber

¹Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany
Joachim Lotz

²Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany
Volker Ellenrieder

³Department of Gastroenterology, Gastrointestinal Oncology and Endocrinology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany
Steffen Kunsch

³Department of Gastroenterology, Gastrointestinal Oncology and Endocrinology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany
Albrecht Neesse

³Department of Gastroenterology, Gastrointestinal Oncology and Endocrinology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic poses new challenges for the medical community due to its large number of patients presenting with varying symptoms. Chest ultrasound (ChUS) may be particularly useful in the early clinical management in suspected COVID-19 patients due to its broad availability and rapid application. We aimed to investigate patterns of ChUS in COVID-19 patients and compare the findings with results from chest X-ray (CRX).

Materials and Methods

24 patients (18 symptomatic, 6 asymptomatic) with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction underwent bedside ChUS in addition to CRX following admission. Subsequently, the results of ChUS and CRX were compared.

Results

94% (n=17/18) of patients with respiratory symptoms demonstrated lung abnormalities on ChUS. ChUS was especially useful to detect interstitial syndrome compared to CXR in COVID-19 patients (17/18 vs. 11/18; p<0.02). Of note, ChUS also detected lung consolidations very effectively (14/18 for ChUS vs. 7/18 cases for CXR; p<0.02). Besides pathological B-lines and subpleural consolidations, pleural line abnormality (89%; n=16/18) was the third most common feature in patients with respiratory manifestations of COVID-19 detected by ChUS.

Conclusion

Our findings support the high value of ChUS in the management of COVID-19 patients.

Key words

coronavirus - SARS-CoV-2 - COVID-19 - chest ultrasound - X-ray

Full Text

References

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