Application Value of Lung Ultrasound in Asymptomatic Patients with Confirmed COVID-19

doi:10.37015/AUDT.2020.200025

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective: To investigate the value of lung ultrasound (LUS) in asymptomatic patients with confirmed COVID-19.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on nine patients in a designated isolation hospital in Sanya from February 22nd, 2020 to February 23rd, 2020. All patients were confirmed with COVID-19 pneumonia by PCR test, but none had the typical symptoms of COVID-19. All patients first underwent LUS examination and then chest computed tomography (CT) scanning. The application value of LUS in asymptomatic confirmed patients with COVID-19 was evaluated, compared with chest CT which was regarded as the golden standard.
Results: Among nine asymptomatic patients with COVID-19, there were two cases (22.22%) with abnormal ultrasonic manifestations, of which one (11.11%) showed a fusion B3-line in zone 5 of the right lung, and the other showed localized pulmonary consolidation in zone 6 of the left lung. The remaining seven cases (77.78%) showed no abnormal changes in LUS, but only clear pleura sliding sign and A-line. Chest CT showed abnormal changes in three cases (33.33%). Two of them (22.22%) showed flocculent high-density shadow at the base of both lungs (especially in the right lung), while the other case showed ground-glass opacity with thickened interlobular septal in the left lower lobe, involving the pleura. There were no abnormalities on chest CT of the remaining six cases (66.67%). The two (22.22%) LUS-positive patients were in complete coincidence with CT-positive patients. This study showed that the coincidence rate of the two examination methods was 88.89%. Taking chest CT as golden standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and Kappa value of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of COVID-19 were 66.67%, 100%, 100%, 85.71%, and 0.727, respectively.
Conclusion: LUS can evaluate lung lesions in asymptomatic patients with COVID-19. Compared with chest CT, the diagnostic coincidence rate and diagnostic consistency of LUS are relatively higher. For this asymptomatic type of patient, ultrasound can be used as a diagnosis method, which can avoid the risk of radiation exposure in a short period of time. As a rapid and dynamic assessment method, LUS can cooperate with remote consultation to provide timely and accurate guidance for clinical diagnosis and treatment when necessary.

Key words: Asymptomatic patients; COVID-19; Pneumonia; Lung ultrasound; CT

Haidan Lin, MD, Bingqi Zhang, MD, Haiyan Kou, MD, Yuanyuan Zhao, MD, Keyan Li, MD, Dudu Wu, MD, Shiyue Zhao, MD, Liuqiong Ren, MD, Xingxi Lin, MD, Zihao Zhang, MD, Zhiye Chen, MD, Xuexia Shan, MD, Yuqing Huang, MD, Shengzheng Wu, MD, Faqin Lv, MD. Application Value of Lung Ultrasound in Asymptomatic Patients with Confirmed COVID-19. Advanced Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Therapy, 2020, 4(2): 67-72.

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