TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinical role of lung ultrasound for diagnosis and monitoring of COVID-19 pneumonia in pregnant women
AU - Buonsenso, Danilo
AU - Raffaelli, Francesca
AU - Tamburrini, Enrica
AU - Biasucci, Daniele Guerino
AU - Salvi, Silvia
AU - Smargiassi, Andrea
AU - Inchingolo, Riccardo
AU - Scambia, Giovanni
AU - Lanzone, Antonio
AU - Testa, Antonia Carla
AU - Moro, Francesca
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Lung ultrasound has been suggested recently by the Chinese Critical Care Ultrasound Study Group and Italian Academy of Thoracic Ultrasound as an accurate tool to detect lung involvement in COVID-19. Although chest computed tomography (CT) represents the gold standard to assess lung involvement, with a specificity superior even to that of the nasopharyngeal swab for diagnosis, lung ultrasound examination can be a valid alternative to CT scan, with certain advantages, particularly for pregnant women. Ultrasound can be performed directly at the bed-side by a single operator, reducing the risk of spreading the disease among health professionals. Furthermore, it is a radiation-free exam, making it safer and easier to monitor those patients who require a series of exams. We report on four cases of pregnant women affected by COVID-19 who were monitored with lung ultrasound examination. All patients showed sonographic features indicative of COVID-19 pneumonia at admission: irregular pleural lines and vertical artifacts (B-lines) were observed in all four cases, and patchy areas of white lung were observed in two. Lung ultrasound was more sensitive than was chest X-ray in detecting COVID-19. In three patients, we observed almost complete resolution of lung pathology on ultrasound within 96 h of admission. Two pregnancies were ongoing at the time of writing, and two had undergone Cesarean delivery with no fetal complications. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis of cord blood and newborn swabs was negative in both of these cases. Copyright © 2020 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
AB - Lung ultrasound has been suggested recently by the Chinese Critical Care Ultrasound Study Group and Italian Academy of Thoracic Ultrasound as an accurate tool to detect lung involvement in COVID-19. Although chest computed tomography (CT) represents the gold standard to assess lung involvement, with a specificity superior even to that of the nasopharyngeal swab for diagnosis, lung ultrasound examination can be a valid alternative to CT scan, with certain advantages, particularly for pregnant women. Ultrasound can be performed directly at the bed-side by a single operator, reducing the risk of spreading the disease among health professionals. Furthermore, it is a radiation-free exam, making it safer and easier to monitor those patients who require a series of exams. We report on four cases of pregnant women affected by COVID-19 who were monitored with lung ultrasound examination. All patients showed sonographic features indicative of COVID-19 pneumonia at admission: irregular pleural lines and vertical artifacts (B-lines) were observed in all four cases, and patchy areas of white lung were observed in two. Lung ultrasound was more sensitive than was chest X-ray in detecting COVID-19. In three patients, we observed almost complete resolution of lung pathology on ultrasound within 96 h of admission. Two pregnancies were ongoing at the time of writing, and two had undergone Cesarean delivery with no fetal complications. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis of cord blood and newborn swabs was negative in both of these cases. Copyright © 2020 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
KW - COVID-19
KW - POCUS
KW - lung ultrasound
KW - pregnancy
KW - COVID-19
KW - POCUS
KW - lung ultrasound
KW - pregnancy
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/167413
U2 - 10.1002/uog.22055
DO - 10.1002/uog.22055
M3 - Article
SN - 0960-7692
VL - 56
SP - 106
EP - 109
JO - Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology
JF - Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology
ER -