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Lung Ultrasound in Children with COVID-19: Preliminary Findings

2020; Elsevier BV; Volume: 46; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2020.04.026

1879-291X

Anna Maria Musolino, Maria Chiara Supino, Danilo Buonsenso, Valentina Ferro, Piero Valentini, Andrea Magistrelli, Mary Haywood Lombardi, Lorenza Romani, Patrizia D’Argenio, Andrea Campana,

Pleural and Pulmonary Diseases

Recent evidence indicates the usefulness of lung ultrasound (LUS) in detecting coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pneumonia. However, no data are available on the use of LUS in children with COVID-19 pneumonia. In this report, we describe LUS features of 10 consecutively admitted children with COVID-19 in two tertiary-level pediatric hospitals in Rome. LUS revealed signs of lung involvement during COVID-19 infection. In particular, vertical artifacts (70%), pleural irregularities (60%), areas of white lung (10%) and subpleural consolidations (10%) were the main findings in patients with COVID-19. No cases of pleural effusions were found. According to our experience, the routine use of LUS in the evaluation of children with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, when performed by clinicians with documented experience in LUS, was useful in diagnosing and monitoring pediatric COVID-19 pneumonia, reducing unnecessary radiation/sedation in children and exposure of health care workers to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).