Abstract
Ultrasound imaging of the lung (LUS) and associated tissues has demonstrated clinical utility in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possibilities of a portable pocket-sized ultrasound scanner in the evaluation of lung involvement in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. We conducted 437 paired readings in 34 LUS evaluations of hospitalized individuals with COVID-19. The LUS scans were performed on the same day with a standard high-end ultrasound scanner (Venue GO, GE Healthcare, Chicago, IL, USA) and a pocket-sized ultrasound scanner (Butterfly iQ, Butterfly Network Inc., Guilford, CT, USA). Fourteen scans were performed on individuals with severe cases, 11 on individuals with moderate cases and nine on individuals with mild cases. No difference was observed between groups in days since onset of symptoms (23.29 ± 10.07, 22.91 ± 8.91 and 28.56 ± 11.13 d, respectively; p = 0.38). No significant differences were found between LUS scores obtained with the high-end and the portable pocket-sized ultrasound scanner. LUS scores in individuals with mild respiratory impairment were significantly lower than in those with moderate and severe cases. Our study confirms the possibilities of portable pocket-sized ultrasound imaging of the lung in COVID-19 patients. Portable pocket-sized ultrasound scanners are cheap, easy to handle and equivalent to standard scanners for non-invasive assessment of severity and dynamic observation of lung lesions in COVID-19 patients.