Lung ultrasound changes in Covid 19 patients discharged from hospital [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Prospective observational study looking at lung ultrasound changes during Recovery from COVID19 infection
IRAS ID
286015
Contact name
paramjeet deol
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Chelsea and westminster
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 0 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Lung ultrasound has been used to help diagnose Covid 19 as an alternative to CT scanning and chest Xray. CT scanning is onerous and there are difficulties taking critically unwell patients there as well as decontamination issues. Chest Xray misses up to 40% of covid diagnoses. Although lung ultrasound can diagnose we don’t know how long these lung ultrasound changes last. We would like to follow up patients to characterise the pattern of changes and how long they last. This is particularly important given that a potential second surge of COVID 19 is looming and we would like to know if lung ultrasound changes are new or part of a previous episode in patients presenting during this second wave and in the future.Summary of Results
We demonstrate using lung ultrasound that the lung recovers significantly over 20 weeks post disease. Individual lung abnormalities resolve at different rates. Entire rib spaces occupied by confluent B-lines wane after the acute phase, whereas irregular pleura and subpleural consolidations resolve in a more gradual fashion. Wide interspersed B-lines may represent a more stable feature indicating residual fibrotic changes. Small, localised effusions appear transiently after the initial acute phase of disease with a peak around 10 weeks after infection. The measured lung abnormalities were shown to be strong predictors for perceived shortness of breath on ambulation.These findings indicate that lung ultrasound can be a useful tool for the long-term monitoring of COVID-19 lung disease, avoiding repeated exposure to ionising radiation and may be employed to discern between acute and past infection.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/SC/0270
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jun 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion