Lung ultrasound monitoring in patients with COVID-19 on home isolation

Many patients with COVID-19, the clinical illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, exhibit mild symptoms and do not require hospitalization. Instead, these patients are often referred for 14-days of home isolation as symptoms resolve. Lung ultrasound is well-established as an important means of evalu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American journal of emergency medicine Vol. 38; no. 12; pp. 2759.e5 - 2759.e8
Main Authors Shokoohi, Hamid, Duggan, Nicole M., García-de-Casasola Sánchez, Gonzalo, Torres-Arrese, Marta, Tung-Chen, Yale
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 01.12.2020
Elsevier Limited
Published by Elsevier Inc
Subjects
Adult
Asymptomatic
Case Report
Case reports
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - diagnostic imaging
Diarrhea
Dyspnea
Emergency medical care
Female
Fever
Home Care Services
Home isolation
Hospitals
Humans
Illnesses
Intensive care units
Lung - diagnostic imaging
Lung ultrasound
Lungs
Male
Middle Aged
Monitoring
Monitoring, Physiologic
Oxygen saturation
Patient Isolation
Patients
POCUS
Point-of-Care Systems
Quarantine
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Ultrasonic imaging
Ultrasonography
Ultrasound
Italy
Genoa Italy
COVID-19
Lung ultrasound
Home isolation
POCUS
Monitoring
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Summary:Many patients with COVID-19, the clinical illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, exhibit mild symptoms and do not require hospitalization. Instead, these patients are often referred for 14-days of home isolation as symptoms resolve. Lung ultrasound is well-established as an important means of evaluating lung pathology in patients in the emergency department and in intensive care units. Ultrasound is also being used to assess admitted patients with COVID-19. However, data on the progression of sonographic findings in patients with COVID-19 on home isolation is lacking. Here we present a case series of a group of physician patients with COVID-19 who monitored themselves daily while in home isolation using lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). Lung POCUS findings corresponded with symptom onset and resolution in all 3 patients with confirmed COVID-19 during the 14-day isolation period. Lung POCUS may offer a feasible means of monitoring patients with COVID-19 who are on home isolation. Further studies correlating sonographic findings to disease progression and prognosis will be valuable.
ISSN:0735-6757
1532-8171
DOI:10.1016/j.ajem.2020.05.079