ArticleIntensive care medicine2020
Lung ultrasound predicts clinical course and outcomes in COVID-19 patients.
Article in Intensive care medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 152 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Lung Ultrasound Score and Pediatric Intensive Care Outcomes: a Prospective Observational Multicenter Study
Lung Ultrasound Signs and Patterns in COVID-19 Pregnant Women - "The PINK-CO Protocol"
Who cites it
152 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Lung Ultrasound Score in COVID-19 Patients Correlates with POThe western journal of emergency medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Lung ultrasound score severity cut-off points in COVID-19 pneumonia. A systematic review and validating cohort.Medicina clinica · 2023Pooled it
- Ultrasound findings of lung ultrasonography in COVID-19: A systematic review.European journal of radiology · 2022Pooled it
- Echocardiography, lung ultrasound, and cardiac magnetic resonance findings in COVID-19: A systematic review.Echocardiography (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) · 2021Pooled it
- Association of Lung Ultrasound Score with Mortality and Severity of COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of visual lung recruitment manoeuvres guided by trans-oesophageal lung ultrasound on atelectasis after thoracoscopic lobectomy: a randomised, single-blind, prospective study.BMC anesthesiology · 2024Trial
- Lung ultrasound: a new approach for detection of severity of COVID-19 viral pneumonia and associated mortality.Journal of ultrasound · 2026Article
- Lung ultrasound plus transthoracic echocardiography for severity stratification in pulmonary fibrosis: a cross-sectional diagnostic study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2026Article
- Correlations Between Oxygen Consumption, Ventilatory Mechanics, and Lung Ultrasound in Individuals with Post-COVID Syndrome.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Point-of-care Lung ultrasound assessment of positional changes in COVID-19 ARDS in intensive care: A case report and review of the literature.Physiological reports · 2025Review
- Contribution of lung ultrasound to assess COVID-19 pneumonia in critical care setting: a prospective cohort study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- ESICM-ESPNIC international expert consensus on quantitative lung ultrasound in intensive care.Intensive care medicine · 2025Article
- Lung Ultrasound After COVID-19: A Pivotal Moment for Clinical Integration-Navigating Challenges and Seizing Opportunities.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Understanding of Patients with Severe COVID-19 Using Lung Ultrasound.Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases · 2025Article
- Prognostication and integration of bedside lung ultrasound and computed tomography imaging findings with clinical features to Predict COVID-19 In-hospital mortality and ICU admission.Emergency radiology · 2025Article
- Observational
- Pulmonary ultrasound in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 pneumonia in South Africa: An observational study.African journal of thoracic and critical care medicine · 2025Article
- Predictors of B-line count in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Article
- Article
92 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
21 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeInformation regarding the use of lung ultrasound (LUS) in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is quickly accumulating, but its use for risk stratification and outcome prediction has yet to be described. We performed the first systematic and comprehensive LUS evaluation of consecutive patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection, in order to describe LUS findings and their association with clinical course and outcome.
methodsBetween 21/03/2020 and 04/05/2020, 120 consecutive patients admitted to the Tel Aviv Medical Center due to COVID-19, underwent complete LUS within 24 h of admission. A second exam was performed in case of clinical deterioration. LUS score of 0 (best)-36 (worst) was assigned to each patient. LUS findings were compared with clinical data.
resultsThe median baseline total LUS score was 15, IQR [7-20]. Baseline LUS score was 0-18 in 80 (67%) patients, and 19-36 in 40 (33%) patients. The majority had patchy pleural thickening (n = 100; 83%), or patchy subpleural consolidations (n = 93; 78%) in at least one zone. The prevalence of pleural thickening, subpleural consolidations and the total LUS score were all correlated with severity of illness on admission. Clinical deterioration was associated with increased follow-up LUS scores (p = 0.0009), mostly due to loss of aeration in anterior lung segments. The optimal cutoff point for LUS score was 18 (sensitivity = 62%, specificity = 74%). Both mortality and need for invasive mechanical ventilation were increased with baseline LUS score > 18 compared to baseline LUS score 0-18. Unadjusted hazard ratio of death for LUS score was 1.08 per point [1.02-1.16], p = 0.008; Unadjusted hazard ratio of the composite endpoint (death or need for invasive mechanical ventilation) for LUS score was 1.12 per point [1.05-1.2], p = 0.0008.
conclusionHospitalized patients with COVID-19, at all clinical grades, present with pathological LUS findings. Baseline LUS score strongly correlates with the eventual need for invasive mechanical ventilation and is a strong predictor of mortality. Routine use of LUS may guide patients' management strategies, as well as resource allocation in case of surge capacity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.