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Observational Study
. 2020 Aug;46(8):2094-2098.
doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2020.04.026. Epub 2020 May 3.

Lung Ultrasound in Children with COVID-19: Preliminary Findings

Anna Maria Musolino  1 , Maria Chiara Supino  1 , Danilo Buonsenso  2 , Valentina Ferro  1 , Piero Valentini  3 , Andrea Magistrelli  4 , Mary Haywood Lombardi  5 , Lorenza Romani  6 , Patrizia D'Argenio  6 , Andrea Campana  5 ; Roman Lung Ultrasound Study Team for Pediatric COVID-19 (ROMULUS COVID Team)
Affiliations
Observational Study

Lung Ultrasound in Children with COVID-19: Preliminary Findings

Anna Maria Musolino et al. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

Recent evidence indicates the usefulness of lung ultrasound (LUS) in detecting coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pneumonia. However, no data are available on the use of LUS in children with COVID-19 pneumonia. In this report, we describe LUS features of 10 consecutively admitted children with COVID-19 in two tertiary-level pediatric hospitals in Rome. LUS revealed signs of lung involvement during COVID-19 infection. In particular, vertical artifacts (70%), pleural irregularities (60%), areas of white lung (10%) and subpleural consolidations (10%) were the main findings in patients with COVID-19. No cases of pleural effusions were found. According to our experience, the routine use of LUS in the evaluation of children with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, when performed by clinicians with documented experience in LUS, was useful in diagnosing and monitoring pediatric COVID-19 pneumonia, reducing unnecessary radiation/sedation in children and exposure of health care workers to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Keywords: Children; Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19); Lung ultrasound; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

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Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Main imaging findings in patient 7 with confirmed COVID-19. (a) Chest X-ray reveals diffuse interstitial disease, with the left lobe more involved. (b) Computed tomography scan reveals ground glass and subpleural consolidations. (c, d) Lung ultrasound reveals patchy areas of white lung (c) and long, bright, thick vertical artifacts (d).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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