Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun;40(6):1113-1123.
doi: 10.1002/jum.15487. Epub 2020 Sep 7.

Is Lung Ultrasound Imaging a Worthwhile Procedure for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Pneumonia Detection?

Giovanni Battista Fonsi  1 , Paolo Sapienza  1 , Gioia Brachini  1 , Chiara Andreoli  2 , Maria Luisa De Cicco  2 , Bruno Cirillo  1 , Simona Meneghini  1 , Francesco Pugliese  3 , Daniele Crocetti  1 , Enrico Fiori  1 , Andrea Mingoli  1
Affiliations

Is Lung Ultrasound Imaging a Worthwhile Procedure for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Pneumonia Detection?

Giovanni Battista Fonsi et al. J Ultrasound Med. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Objectives: We compared 2 imaging modalities in patients suspected of having coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. Blinded to the results of real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) testing, lung ultrasound (LUS) examinations and chest computed tomography (CT) were performed, and the specific characteristics of these imaging studies were assessed.

Methods: From March 15, 2020, to April 15, 2020, 63 consecutive patients were enrolled in this prospective pilot study. All patients underwent hematochemical tests, LUS examinations, chest CT, and confirmatory rRT-PCR. The diagnostic performance of LUS and chest CT was calculated with rRT-PCR as a reference. The interobserver agreement of radiologists and ultrasound examiners was calculated. Ultrasound and CT features were compared to assess the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. Positive and negative likelihood ratios measured the diagnostic accuracy.

Results: Nineteen (30%) patients were COVID-19 negative, and 44 (70%) were positive. No differences in demographics and clinical data at presentation were observed among positive and negative patients. Interobserver agreement for CT had a κ value of 0.877, whereas for LUS, it was 0.714. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of chest CT for COVID-19 pneumonia were 93%, 90%, 85%, and 95%, respectively; whereas for LUS, they were 68%, 79%, 88%, and 52%. On receiver operating characteristic curves, area under the curve values were 0.834 (95% confidence interval, 0.711-0.958) and 0.745 (95% confidence interval, 0.606-0.884) for chest CT and LUS.

Conclusions: Lung ultrasound had good reliability compared to chest CT. Therefore, our results indicate that LUS may be used to assess patients suspected of having COVID-19 pneumonia.

Keywords: chest computed tomography; coronavirus disease 2019; lung ultrasound; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Wu Z, McGoogan JM. Characteristics of and important lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China: summary of a report of 72,314 cases from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention [published online ahead of print February 24, 2020]. JAMA. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.2648.
    1. Long C, Xu H, Shen Q, et al. Diagnosis of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19): rRT-PCR or CT? Eur J Radiol 2020; 126:108961.
    1. Fang Y, Zhang H, Xie J, et al. Sensitivity of chest CT for COVID-19: comparison to RT-PCR. Radiology 2020; 296:E115-E117.
    1. Mayo PH, Copetti R, Feller-Kopman D, et al. Thoracic ultrasonography: a narrative review. Intensive Care Med 2019; 45:1200-1211.
    1. National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China. Diagnosis and treatment protocol for COVID-19 (trial version 7). National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China website. http://en.nhc.gov.cn/2020-03/29/c_78469.htm. Accessed June 22, 2020.

LinkOut - more resources