Diagnostic Accuracy of Using Point-of-Care Lung Ultrasound for Early Triage of COVID-19 Patients

Background: Early treatment of COVID-19 leads to better patient outcomes, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis. Diagnostic modalities include computed tomography (CT) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR).
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound for the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection.
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the emergency ward of Suez Canal University Hospital from December 2021 to July 2022. The study recruited patients with suspected COVID- 19 infection according to particular inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patients eligible for the study were subjected to detailed history taking, complete clinical evaluation, determining comorbidities, evaluation of the presenting symptoms, laboratory investigations, and imaging studies such as chest X-ray, lung ultrasound, and computed tomography. Patient outcome was reported.
Results: According to lung US, 68/80 (85%) were COVID-19 positive. The lymphocytic count differed significantly between COVID positive and negative patients (p-value of 0.026). There was a significant difference in PO₂, as demonstrated in the ABG analysis (p-value 0.046). The outcome of COVID- 19 positive patients was ICU admission (47.1%), inpatient admission (33.8%), or death in the emergency ward (19.1%) respectively. Lung ultrasound detected all positive cases diagnosed by CT. Lung US showed sensitivity, specificity, a PPV, an NPV, and diagnostic accuracy of 61.8%, 66.7%, 91.3%, 23.5%, and 62.5%, respectively, compared to PCR.
Conclusion: Lung ultrasound is a promising diagnostic tool for evaluating lung infection in patients suspected/infected with COVID-19.