ArticleBMC emergency medicine2020
Lung ultrasound in the emergency department - a valuable tool in the management of patients presenting with respiratory symptoms during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Article in BMC emergency medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- The diagnostic performance of lung ultrasound for detecting COVID-19 in emergency departments: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical ultrasound : JCU · 2022Pooled it
- Thoracic imaging tests for the diagnosis of COVID-19.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Ultrasound findings of lung ultrasonography in COVID-19: A systematic review.European journal of radiology · 2022Pooled it
- 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
- Point-of-care lung ultrasound predicts hyperferritinemia and hospitalization, but not elevated troponin in SARS-CoV-2 viral pneumonitis in children.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Lung Ultrasound in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine: Clinical Review.Advances in respiratory medicine · 2023Review
- Lung ultrasound as a screening tool for SARS-CoV-2 infection in surgical patients.Journal of clinical ultrasound : JCU · 2022Article
- Applicability of lung ultrasound in the assessment of COVID-19 pneumonia: Diagnostic accuracy and clinical correlations.Respiratory investigation · 2022Observational
- Lung Ultrasound as a Triage Method in Primary Care for Patients with Suspected SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Global Challenges to Public Health Care Systems during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review of Pandemic Measures and Problems.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Review
- Diagnostic Performance of Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Tests, Chest Computed Tomography, and Lung Point-of-Care-Ultrasonography for SARS-CoV-2 Compared with RT-PCR Testing: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- What Is COVID 19 Teaching Us about Pulmonary Ultrasound?Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Impact of Insurance Benefits and Education on Point-of-Care Ultrasound Use in a Single Emergency Department: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Observational
- Comprehensive literature review on the radiographic findings, imaging modalities, and the role of radiology in the COVID-19 pandemic.World journal of radiology · 2021Review
- Chest pain mimicking pulmonary embolism may be a common presentation of COVID-19 in ambulant patients without other typical features of infection.Journal of internal medicine · 2021Article
- A Comparison of Lung Ultrasound and Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Patients with COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Diagnostic accuracy of physician's gestalt in suspected COVID-19: Prospective bicentric study.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2021Article
- Lung Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of COVID-19 Pneumonia: Not Always and Not Only What Is COVID-19 "Glitters".Frontiers in medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTypical lung ultrasound (LUS) findings in patients with a COVID-19 infection were reported early on. During the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, LUS was propagated as a useful instrument in triage and monitoring. We evaluated LUS as a rapid diagnostic triage tool for the management of patients with suspected COVID-19 in the emergency department (ED).
methodsThe study retrospectively enrolled patients with suspected COVID-19, who were admitted from 1st April to 25th of April 2020 to the ED of a tertiary care center in Germany. During clinical work-up, patients underwent LUS and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for SARS-CoV-2. The recorded ultrasound findings were analyzed and judged regarding typical signs of viral pneumonia, blinded for clinical information of the patients. The results were compared with PCR test and chest computed tomography (CT).
results2236 patients were treated in the ED during the study period. 203 were tested for SARS-CoV-2 using PCR, 135 (66.5%) underwent LUS and 39 (28.9%) of the patients were examined by chest CT scan. 39 (28.9%) of the 135 patients were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 with PCR. In 52 (38.5%) COVID-19 was suspected from the finding of the LUS, resulting in a sensitivity of 76.9% and a specificity of 77.1% compared with PCR results. The negative predictive value reached 89.2%. The findings of the LUS had - compared to a positive chest CT scan for COVID-19 - a sensitivity of 70.6% and a specificity of 72.7%.
conclusionsLUS is a rapid and useful triage tool in the work-up of patients with suspected COVID-19 infection during a pandemic scenario. Still, the results of the LUS depend on the physician's experience and skills.
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