Potential implications for management
Usefulness of point-of-care ultrasound in the primary care setting has
been evaluated in previous studies[95,96], and Calvo-Cebrián A et al
aimed to evaluate its utility in influencing decisions about patients
with clinical suspicion of COVID‐19. A self‐designed LUS severity scale
and the individual finding of coalescent B‐lines was found to be
significantly associated with the main outcome of appropriate hospital
referral (P = .008; OR, 4.5; 95% CI, 1.42–14.27) and a higher rate of
hospital admission (P = .02; OR, 4.76; 95% CI, 1.18–19.15)[81].
Another utility of LUS was demonstrated by Dargent A et al., who
monitored the evolution of COVID-19 pneumonia in 10 patients admitted to
the ICU, and observed a lower LUS score in all patients on the day of
extubation compared with admission, suggesting an accurate reflection of
disease progression[97]. Gaspardone et al. observed LUS findings in
the post-acute phase of COVID‐19, noting residual lung alterations on
the LUS and a higher LUS score at the time of discharge in patients who
had more severe disease during the acute phase compared with patients
with milder disease[85].