AUTHOR=Blair Paul W. , Hwang Jimin , Pearce Jackson , Fong Tiffany C. , Cui Erjia , Herrera Phabiola , Liu Gigi , Crainiceanu Ciprian , Siddharthan Trishul , Clark Danielle V. ,  The CCPSEI Research Team , Fenstermacher Katherine , Shea Sophia , Seo Stefanie , Lawrence Josh , Sauer Lauren , Hansoti Bhakti , Rothman Richard 

TITLE=Do worsening lung ultrasound scans identify severe COVID-19 trajectories?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.1021929

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2022.1021929

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=Serial point-of-care lung ultrasound (LUS) provides actionable results at the point-of-care without ionizing radiation. LUS has been an essential tool in evaluating patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, albeit with heterogenous uptake based on center expertise. In contrast to serial chest X-rays, which are no longer standard of care, serial LUS scans are performed without radiation exposure, are more sensitive for detecting lung pathology, and therefore may be more useful as a daily measurement. While multiple studies  have assessed the prognostic value of LUS, few have assessed changes over time in a methodical manner. In addition to identifying disease resolution, changes in LUS findings could help monitor patient trajectories. However, the variability or trends over time have not been well-described. In the present study we evaluate the association between LUS characteristics and clinical severity among adults hospitalized with COVID-19.