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Pediatr Pulmonol
. 2021 Jan 6.
doi: 10.1002/ppul.25255. Online ahead of print.
Lung ultrasound in the diagnosis and monitoring of 30 children with Coronavirus Disease 2019
Musolino Anna Maria 1 , Supino Maria Chiara 1 , Danilo Buonsenso 2 , Raffaele Edo Papa 3 , Sara Chiurchi? 4 , Andrea Magistrelli 5 , Maria Antonietta Barbieri 6 , Massimiliano Raponi 7 , Patrizia D'Argenio 4 , Alberto Villani 8 , Paolo Tom? 5 , LUS Covid group
Affiliations
- PMID: 33404197
- DOI: 10.1002/ppul.25255
Abstract
Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a new global pandemic and is responsible for millions of infections and thousands of deaths in the world. The lung ultrasound is a non-invasive and easily repeatable tool and can be carried out by the pediatrician at the bedside of children with a consequent reduction in the risk of transmission of the virus.
Objective: We hypothesized that ultrasound findings in these patients would (1) be associated with their disease severity and (2) change over time in alignment with clinical outcome.
Methods: The study was made in the emergency department in a tertiary level pediatric hospital. All patients with swab-confirmed COVID-19 infection were subjected to a lung ultrasound within 6 hours from admission and after 96 hours.
Results: Among a total of 30 children, 18 (60%) were males, 4 reported exertional dyspnea and only 1 chest pain. The mean oxygen saturation was 98.8 ? 1.0 % in ambient air in emergency department and no patient needed oxygen therapy during hospitalization. Children with moderate disease presented more B line (p= 0.03). After 96 hours we had observed ultrasound abnormality only in 20% of the children. We found a statistically significant reduction in pleural irregularities (30% vs 16.7; p= 0.001) and in B lines (50% vs 20%; p= 0.008).
Conclusions: The lung ultrasound is a useful, feasible and safe tool for the clinician to complement the clinical evaluation and to monitor the evolution of lung disease in children with COVID-19. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Keywords: COVID-19; Children; Coronavirus disease 2019; Lung Ultrasound; SARS-CoV2.