Utility of lung ultrasound in the management of COVID-19 respiratory infection

In the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, lung ultrasound has emerged as an accurate and reliable alternative for assessment of lung pathology. The main lung ultrasound findings in COVID-19 patients are interstitial syndrome, irregular and broken aspect of the pleural line, and sub-pleural consolidation. Consolidations are usually a late finding appearing during the second week since symptoms onset. Translating into the practice, lung ultrasound can improve diagnostic accuracy and contribute with relevant information to the triage of these patients. It can be used as part of the routinely assessment of patients admitted to the medical ward allowing early identification of disease progression. Among patients mechanically ventilated, it is useful evaluating response to prone position and/or recruiting maneuvers. Finally, in all the previous scenarios, lung ultrasound may also detect common complications seen in these patients such as cardiogenic pulmonary edema and pulmonary embolism. In this review, we have summarized the information available and suggest simple algorithm to incorporate lung ultrasound into the assessment of COVID-19 patients.