Low Dose Chest CT and Lung Ultrasound for the Diagnosis and Management of COVID-19

Julie Finance (1, 2, 3) , Laurent Zieleskewicz (4, 5) , Paul Habert (6, 7) , Alexis Jacquier (8, 6) , Philippe Parola (9, 2) , Alain Boussuges (4) , Fabienne Bregeon (3, 2) , Carole Eldin (9, 2)

1 Service des explorations fonctionnelles respiratoires [Hôpital Nord - APHM]
2 IHU Marseille - Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection
3 MEPHI - Microbes évolution phylogénie et infections
4 C2VN - Centre recherche en CardioVasculaire et Nutrition = Center for CardioVascular and Nutrition research
5 Hôpital Nord [CHU - APHM]
6 Département de Cardiologie [Hôpital de la Timone - APHM]
7 LIIE - Laboratoire d'Imagerie Interventionnelle Expérimentale
8 CRMBM - Centre de résonance magnétique biologique et médicale
9 VITROME - Vecteurs - Infections tropicales et méditerranéennes

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity to use low- and non-radiating chest imaging techniques on a large scale in the context of an infectious disease, which has never been done before. Previously, low-dose techniques were rarely used for infectious diseases, despite the recognised danger of ionising radiation. Method: To evaluate the role of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) and lung ultrasound (LUS) in managing COVID-19 pneumonia, we performed a review of the literature including our cases. Results: Chest LDCT is now performed routinely when diagnosing and assessing the severity of COVID-19, allowing patients to be rapidly triaged. The extent of lung involvement assessed by LDCT is accurate in terms of predicting poor clinical outcomes in COVID-19-infected patients. Infectious disease specialists are less familiar with LUS, but this technique is also of great interest for a rapid diagnosis of patients with COVID-19 and is effective at assessing patient prognosis. Conclusions: COVID-19 is currently accelerating the transition to low-dose and “no-dose” imaging techniques to explore infectious pneumonia and their long-term consequences.

Mots clés: lung ultrasound; low-dose CT; pneumonia; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2

Domaines: Bactériologie; Cardiologie et système cardiovasculaire; Maladies émergentes; Maladies infectieuses; Parasitologie; Virologie

Julie Finance, Laurent Zieleskewicz, Paul Habert, Alexis Jacquier, Philippe Parola, et al.. Low Dose Chest CT and Lung Ultrasound for the Diagnosis and Management of COVID-19. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2021, 10 (10), pp.2196. ⟨10.3390/jcm10102196⟩. ⟨hal-03282013⟩