Role of Chest Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Assessment of Patients with Severe and Critically Ill COVID-19

doi:10.21608/ejhm.2023.321204

Role of Chest Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Assessment of Patients with Severe and Critically Ill COVID-19

Document Type : Original Article

10.21608/ejhm.2023.321204

Abstract

Background: Due to the extraordinary severity of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic medical establishments must establish effective and user-friendly ways in the direction of treating patients first and forecast outcomes.
Objective: Our rationale of this work was investigating chest ultrasound's function in the evaluation and diagnosis of patients with severe and critically illCOVID-19.
Patients and methods: This study was observational study performed at Damanhur chest hospital from April 2021 to March 2022. The study was carried-out on 200 COVID-19 infected patients with mean age of 60.55 ± 19.50 year. They were identified as having COVID-19 infection based on a positive Polymerase Chain Reaction test for SARS-CoV-2 and/or standard CT scan findings. Patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, it was only for really ill patients with severe and critically ill COVID-19 infection. At time of admission, we examined them by pleuro-pulmonary ultrasonography.
Results: The results showed elevated scores of lung ultrasonography that had been shown to be significantly related to hypoxemia and clinical severity. The extent of lung injury and hypoxemia during COVID-19 pneumonia were also significantly correlated. Confluent B-lines predominate over consolidation in COVID-19-ARDS, indicating that non-aerated tissue perfusion rather than a true right-to-left shunt is the primary cause of venous mixing. This finding is in accordance with research that claim this is the case.
Conclusion: The study's findings suggested that, in situations with limited resources, lung ultrasonography might be a vital instrument for the diagnosis and prognosis of lung damage in seriously sick COVID-19 pneumonia patients. In such circumstances, this straightforward, easily available, and trustworthy technology has considerable promise. For our findings to be confirmed, larger multicenter investigations are required.

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