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Changes in lung ultrasound of symptomatic healthcare professionals with COVID ‐19 pneumonia and their association with clinical findings
Author(s) -
Mafort Thiago Thomaz,
Lopes Agnaldo José,
Costa Cláudia Henrique,
Cal Mariana Soares,
Lopes Mariana Carneiro,
Silva Bruno Rangel Antunes,
Faria Luana Fortes,
Faria Anamelia Costa,
Costa Walter,
Salles Raquel Esteves Brandão,
Castro Marcos César Santos,
Rufino Rogério
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of clinical ultrasound
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.272
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1097-0096
pISSN - 0091-2751
DOI - 10.1002/jcu.22905
Subject(s) - medicine , pneumonia , covid-19 , lung ultrasound , lung , ultrasound , association (psychology) , betacoronavirus , health care , intensive care medicine , pathology , radiology , disease , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , philosophy , epistemology , economic growth , economics
Purpose To evaluate ultrasound signs of coronavirus disease‐19 (COVID‐19) pneumonia in symptomatic healthcare professionals and to correlate those changes with clinical findings. Methods All patients underwent real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR), lung ultrasound (LUS) and clinical evaluation on the same day. In each of the 12 areas evaluated in the LUS, the LUS signs were scored to generate the aeration score. Results A total of 409 participants had positive PCR, with a median age of 41 (35‐51) years. All participants had clinical symptoms, with cough in 84.1%, fever in 69.7%, and dyspnea in 36.2% of cases. In the LUS, 72.6% of participants had B‐lines >2, 36.2% had coalescent B‐lines, and 8.06% had subpleural consolidations. The median aeration score was 3 (2‐7). The aeration score differed significantly regarding the presence of cough ( P = .002), fever ( P = .001), and dyspnea ( P < .0001). The finding of subpleural consolidations in the LUS showed significant differences between participants with or without dyspnea ( P < .0001). Conclusions In healthcare professionals with COVID‐19, LUS plays a key role in the characterization of lung involvement. Although B‐lines are the most common ultrasound sign, subpleural consolidations are those that most impact the respiratory condition.