COVID Section, Unit of Internal Medicine "Guido Baccelli", Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePre-J), University of Bari Aldo Moro, I-70124 Bari, Italy.
Unit of Infectious Diseases, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePre-J), University of Bari Aldo Moro, I-70124 Bari, Italy.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2023 Jan 19;59(2):203. doi: 10.3390/medicina59020203.
COVID-19 induces massive systemic inflammation. Researchers have spent much time and effort finding an excellent and rapid image tool to evaluate COVID-19 patients. Since the pandemic's beginning, lung ultrasound (LUS) has been identified for this purpose. Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) were used to treat mild patients and prevent respiratory disease worsening. We evaluated 15 Caucasian patients with mild COVID-19 who did not require home oxygen, treated with Bamlanivimab and Etesevimab (Group 1). A molecular nose-throat swab test confirmed the diagnosis. All were office patients, and nobody was affected by respiratory failure. They were admitted to receive the single-day infusion of mAb treatment in agreement with the Italian Drug Agency (AIFA) rules for approval. LUS was performed before the drug administration (T0) and after three months (T1). We compared LUS at T1 in other outpatients who came for follow-up and were overlapping at the time of diagnosis for admittance criteria to receive mAb (Group 2). : Our COVID-19 outpatients reported no hospitalization in a follow-up visit after recovery. All patients became SARS-CoV-2 negative within one month since T0. LUS score at T0 was 8.23 ± 6.46. At T1 we found a significant decrease in Group 1 LUS score (5.18 ± 4.74; < 0.05). We also found a significant decrease in the LUS score of Group 1 T1 compared to Group2 T1 (5.18 ± 4.74 vs 7.82 ± 5.21; < 0.05). Early treatment of the SARS-CoV-2 virus effectively achieves a better recovery from disease and reduces lung involvement after three months as evaluated with LUS. Despite extrapolation to the general population may be done with caution, based on our data this ultrasound method is also effective for evaluating and following lung involvement in COVID-19 patients.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）引发全身性炎症。研究人员花费了大量时间和精力寻找一种优秀、快速的影像工具来评估 COVID-19 患者。自疫情开始以来，肺部超声（LUS）已被确定为此目的。单克隆抗体（mAb）用于治疗轻症患者，防止呼吸道疾病恶化。
我们评估了 15 名患有轻度 COVID-19 的高加索患者，这些患者不需要家庭吸氧，接受巴伦珠单抗和埃特司韦单抗治疗（第 1 组）。分子鼻喉拭子检测确认了诊断。所有患者均为门诊患者，无呼吸衰竭。他们因符合意大利药品管理局（AIFA）批准的规定而接受单天输注 mAb 治疗而入院。在给药前（T0）和三个月后（T1）进行 LUS。我们比较了在 T1 时接受 mAb 治疗的其他门诊患者的 LUS，这些患者在诊断时因入院标准重叠而成为门诊患者（第 2 组）。
我们的 COVID-19 门诊患者在康复后随访时没有住院。所有患者在 T0 后一个月内均转为 SARS-CoV-2 阴性。T0 时 LUS 评分为 8.23 ± 6.46。在 T1，我们发现第 1 组的 LUS 评分显著降低（5.18 ± 4.74；<0.05）。我们还发现第 1 组 T1 的 LUS 评分与第 2 组 T1 的 LUS 评分相比显著降低（5.18 ± 4.74 vs 7.82 ± 5.21；<0.05）。
早期治疗 SARS-CoV-2 病毒可有效改善疾病恢复，并在三个月后通过 LUS 评估减轻肺部受累。尽管基于我们的数据，对一般人群的推断可能需要谨慎，但这种超声方法对于评估和随访 COVID-19 患者的肺部受累也很有效。
