SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Comparison of Lung Scanning Protocols With Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Hospitalized Patients With Covid-19

Comparison of Lung Scanning Protocols With Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Hospitalized Patients With Covid-19

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This study examined whether simplified lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) protocols can reliably detect pulmonary complications in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Although POCUS is useful in COVID-19 care and common findings include B-lines and consolidations, there is no agreed standard for how many lung zones should be scanned.<br /><br />The investigators reviewed 97 consecutive PCR-positive hospitalized patients at two hospitals between March 2020 and April 2021. Each patient received a 12-zone lung ultrasound within 48 hours of admission. The scans were then re-analyzed as if they had been performed using 2-zone, 4-zone, or 8-zone protocols, and these simplified approaches were compared with the full 12-zone scan. Two blinded reviewers independently interpreted the images.<br /><br />Results showed that simplified protocols had only low to modest agreement with the 12-zone reference for detecting both B-lines and consolidations. They also labeled more scans as normal than the 12-zone approach: 27% for 2-zone, 18% for 4-zone, and 10% for 8-zone scans, versus only 4% for 12-zone scans. This suggests that shorter protocols may miss clinically important lung pathology and could underestimate the severity of pulmonary involvement in COVID-19.<br /><br />The authors conclude that while more extensive scanning takes more time, a 12-zone lung POCUS protocol may be better for identifying COVID-19-related pulmonary complications and providing a more accurate assessment of disease burden.

Asset Subtitle

Andre Kumar

Meta Tag

Author List Andre Kumar, John Kugler, Yingjie Weng

Category Research

Concept Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Concept COVID-19

Concept Pulmonary Ultrasound

Concept B-lines

Concept Consolidation

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Stanford University

Presenting Author Andre Kumar

Track Other

Keywords

COVID-19

lung ultrasound

point-of-care ultrasound

POCUS

pulmonary complications

B-lines

consolidations

12-zone protocol

hospitalized patients

diagnostic accuracy

Point-of-Care Ultrasound

COVID-19

Pulmonary Ultrasound

B-lines

Consolidation