THORACIC

A preliminary study on the ultrasonic manifestations of peripulmonary lesions of non-critical novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19)

Yi Huang1, Sihan Wang1, Yue Liu1, Yaohui Zhang1, Chuyun Zheng1, Yu Zheng2, Chaoyang Zhang3, Weili

Min4,Huihui Zhou5,Ming Yu5, Mingjun Hu1

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-14928/v1

05/13/2020

Reviewer: Ludwig Koeneke-Hernandez

Design: Retrospective analysis of 20 patients clinically diagnosed with COVID-19 in Xi'an Hospital had POCUS performed to observe characteristics of pulmonary lesions

Limitations:

Small sample size, single center study

COVID diagnosis based on clinical criteria and not confirmed via laboratory data

Practice Changing? No

Take home point: POCUS can provide reference for the clinical diagnosis and perhaps efficacy of treatment in COVID-19 Patients. US findings include large numbers of B lines, subpleural pulmonary consolidations and poor blood flow in the posterior and inferior areas of the lung.

01/16/2019

Reviewer: Dr. Kristina Jacomino

Article: https://www.heartandlung.org/article/S0147-9563(18)30228-0/fulltext

Multicenter, randomized pilot trial designed to test a POC lung ultrasound-driven treatment protocol in the ED for pulmonary congestion in acute heart failure against “usual care”.

Limitations:

Small sample size
No way to blind the sonographer from the visible clinical status of the patient

Practice changing? - Yes

Take home point – If subsequent studies pan out, standard of care may change to use POC lung ultrasound in the ED to dictate diuresis decisions in those with acute heart failure

11/12/2018

Reviewer: Paul Eugene

Article : "Which ultrasound transducer type is best for diagnosing pneumothorax?" by R. Ketelaars et al.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13089-018-0109-0

Single center double-blinded, cross-sectional, observational study comparing three types of ultrasound transducer in the diagnosis of pneumothorax on lung ultrasound.

Limitations:

- Observers were told that patients would be ventilated similarly and that pneumothorax would be the only pathology (bias)

- Observers could not adjust or change the images by manipulating the probes themselves

- Besides the possibility of pneumothorax, no other clinical parameters were provided to observers

Practice changing? - No.

Take home point - All three transducer types can be used to diagnose pneumothorax but if you want to assess for more than lung pathology, the curvilinear or phased array probe may be more useful.