Respiratory Diseases Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University Hospital of Siena (Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese, AOUS), Siena, Italy.
Respiratory Diseases Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University Hospital of Siena (Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese, AOUS), Siena, Italy.
Ultrasound Med Biol. 2021 Jan;47(1):19-24. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2020.09.014. Epub 2020 Sep 21.
Ultrasound imaging of the lung (LUS) and associated tissues has demonstrated clinical utility in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possibilities of a portable pocket-sized ultrasound scanner in the evaluation of lung involvement in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. We conducted 437 paired readings in 34 LUS evaluations of hospitalized individuals with COVID-19. The LUS scans were performed on the same day with a standard high-end ultrasound scanner (Venue GO, GE Healthcare, Chicago, IL, USA) and a pocket-sized ultrasound scanner (Butterfly iQ, Butterfly Network Inc., Guilford, CT, USA). Fourteen scans were performed on individuals with severe cases, 11 on individuals with moderate cases and nine on individuals with mild cases. No difference was observed between groups in days since onset of symptoms (23.29 ± 10.07, 22.91 ± 8.91 and 28.56 ± 11.13 d, respectively; p = 0.38). No significant differences were found between LUS scores obtained with the high-end and the portable pocket-sized ultrasound scanner. LUS scores in individuals with mild respiratory impairment were significantly lower than in those with moderate and severe cases. Our study confirms the possibilities of portable pocket-sized ultrasound imaging of the lung in COVID-19 patients. Portable pocket-sized ultrasound scanners are cheap, easy to handle and equivalent to standard scanners for non-invasive assessment of severity and dynamic observation of lung lesions in COVID-19 patients.
肺部超声成像（LUS）及相关组织在 2019 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）患者中已显示出临床应用价值。本研究旨在评估便携式口袋式超声扫描仪在评估 COVID-19 肺炎患者肺部受累情况中的应用潜力。我们对 34 例 COVID-19 住院患者进行了 437 次 LUS 评估。同一天，使用标准高端超声扫描仪（GE Healthcare，芝加哥，IL，美国的 Venue GO）和便携式口袋式超声扫描仪（Butterfly Network Inc.，Guilford，CT，美国的 Butterfly iQ）进行 LUS 扫描。14 例为重症患者，11 例为中度患者，9 例为轻度患者。三组患者的症状出现天数无差异（分别为 23.29±10.07、22.91±8.91 和 28.56±11.13 d；p=0.38）。高端超声扫描仪和便携式口袋式超声扫描仪的 LUS 评分无显著差异。轻度呼吸障碍患者的 LUS 评分明显低于中度和重度患者。本研究证实了便携式口袋式超声成像在 COVID-19 患者中的应用潜力。便携式口袋式超声扫描仪价格便宜，易于操作，可与标准扫描仪媲美，可用于 COVID-19 患者肺部严重程度的非侵入性评估和肺部病变的动态观察。
