"Lung Ultrasound Examination Helps in COVID-19 Diagnosis and Monitoring"

A study has shown that lung ultrasound examination was effective in diagnosing pneumonia caused by COVID-19 and managing the disease.

On the 14th, Bundang Seoul National University Hospital announced that an international research team, including Professor Cho Young-jae from the Department of Pulmonology, published a review paper on the role of lung ultrasound in diagnosing and managing COVID-19 during the pandemic in the European Respiratory Society's online journal (ERJ Open Research). A review paper is a type of article in which experts in the field summarize the latest research trends. Based on his experience and expertise using lung ultrasound at the nationally designated inpatient treatment beds at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, Professor Cho participated as the sole co-author from Asia in this WHO-led study.

The research team conducted a comprehensive study on the role of lung ultrasound in COVID-19 patients to establish new imaging methods for diagnosing and managing COVID-19, focusing on ▲the advantages of lung ultrasound compared to chest CT and X-ray examinations ▲lung ultrasound findings in COVID-19 pneumonia ▲standardized lung ultrasound examination methods.

Medical staff are performing lung ultrasound in a negative pressure ward. [Photo by Bundang Seoul National University Hospital]

In particular, the research team explained that lung ultrasound examination was helpful in diagnosing and monitoring COVID-19 pneumonia. Lung ultrasound equipment is portable, allowing immediate examination in various clinical settings such as outpatient clinics, negative pressure wards, and screening clinics. It is easy to disinfect the equipment, reducing the risk of virus transmission. There is no risk of radiation exposure, making it usable for pregnant women and children, and it allows multiple examinations to monitor disease progression. Based on this, lung ultrasound examination can detect negative patients with a high sensitivity of over 90%, reducing unnecessary tests and medical costs, and can early identify severe patients requiring hospitalization depending on the progression of lung involvement and complications such as heart failure and pneumothorax, enabling focused medical resources.

Furthermore, the research team added that lung ultrasound examination can be used as a diagnostic tool for lung-related symptoms and for short- and long-term monitoring of the lungs in various long-term sequelae (long COVID) such as persistent cough and dyspnea after COVID-19 infection. Professor Cho Young-jae said, "Awareness of the benefits of using lung ultrasound is still insufficient, and there are not enough skilled experts," adding, "It is expected that awareness of the use of lung ultrasound for respiratory disease management will be raised in the future, along with education on standardized ultrasound methods and the integration of artificial intelligence technology, thereby strengthening treatment capabilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.