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].