The use of chest ultrasonography in suspected cases of COVID-19 in the emergency department

• Published in: Future science OA 2021-01, Vol.7 (1), p.FSO635-FSO635
• Main Authors: Allegorico, Enrico, Buonerba, Carlo, Bosso, Giorgio, Pagano, Antonio, Porta, Giovanni, Serra, Claudia, Dolce, Pasquale, Minerva, Valentina, Vicario, Ferdinando Dello, Altruda, Concetta, Arbo, Paola, Russo, Teresa, Sio, Chiara De, Franco, Nicoletta, Ruffa, Gianluca, Mormile, Cinzia, Cannavacciuolo, Francesca, Mercurio, Valentina, Gervasio, Gelsomina, Costanzo, Giuseppe Di, Ragozzino, Alfonso, Scafuri, Luca, Facchini, Gaetano, Numis, Fabio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: COVID-19; lung ultrasound; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2
• ISSN: 2056-5623; 2056-5623
• DOI: 10.2144/fsoa-2020-0127

 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus-specific reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) represents the diagnostic gold standard. We explored the value of chest ultrasonography to predict positivity to SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR in suspected COVID-19 cases. Consecutive patients with suspect COVID-19 were included if they had fever and/or history of cough and/or dyspnea. Lung ultrasound score (LUSS) was computed according to published methods. A total of 76 patients were included. A 3-variable model based on aspartate transaminase (AST) > upper limit of normal, LUSS >12 and body temperature >37.5°C yielded an overall accuracy of 91%. A simple LUSS-based model may represent a powerful tool for initial assessment in suspected cases of COVID-19. The gold standard for diagnosis of COVID-19 is RT-PCR. During a pandemic emergency, it may be useful to identify suspect symptomatic patients who may safely be observed without undergoing testing for COVID-19. In this work, a simple model based on the findings of lung ultrasound, AST levels and fever showed an overall accuracy of 91% to predict the results of RT-PCR.