Lung Ultrasound in COVID-19 Disease

Due to increased cases of COVID-19 lung disease, the World Health Organization has announced a pandemic. In most of the cases, COVID-19 causes mild symptoms such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, and limb pain. However, severe courses of the disease are associated with pneumonia and respiratory failure requiring intensive care support. Patient with risk factors like immune disorders or cardiovascular diseases have a higher risk in developing an acute respiratory distress syndrome as well as further life-threatening complications including septic shock. Critically ill patients frequently need thoracic imaging due to the constant changes of their clinical conditions. Chest CT is still regarded as the gold standard imaging technique for thoracic evaluation. With regards to the evaluation of pneumonia and/or ARDS lung ultrasonography provides results comparable to chest CT. Patients with COVID-19 disease show typical patterns in lung ultrasound. COVID-19 lesions mainly involve the peripheral pulmonary zones, which makes this disease accessible for pulmonary ultrasound evaluation.