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Intensive Care Medicine
Published in: Intensive Care Medicine 10/2020

01-10-2020 | Computed Tomography | Editorial

Lung ultrasonography as an alternative to chest computed tomography in COVID-19 pneumonia?

Authors: Antoine Vieillard-Baron, Alberto Goffi, Paul Mayo

Published in: Intensive Care Medicine | Issue 10/2020

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Excerpt

A letter recently published by Yang et al. in this journal raises the important question as to whether lung ultrasonography (LUS) may be an useful alternative to chest computed tomography (CT) for the evaluation of COVID-19 pneumonia [1]. The information in the study is particularly relevant to a situation in which an overwhelming volume of COVID-19 patients may exceed CT performance and processing capacity. What is new and provocative in Yang’s study is the reported higher sensitivity of LUS compared to CT for the detection of alveolar-interstitial syndrome (AIS), consolidation, and pleural effusion in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The authors found weak or very weak agreement between LUS and CT for alveolar-interstitial findings, consolidation, and pleural effusion, with CT not able to identify a significant proportion of these findings. This editorial comments on the controversy engendered by the letter with the intent of furthering the discussion on LUS and CT as imaging modalities for SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. …
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Metadata
Title
Lung ultrasonography as an alternative to chest computed tomography in COVID-19 pneumonia?
Authors
Antoine Vieillard-Baron
Alberto Goffi
Paul Mayo
Publication date
01-10-2020
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Intensive Care Medicine / Issue 10/2020
Print ISSN: 0342-4642
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1238
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-020-06221-0

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