Lung Ultrasound in Children with COVID-19: Preliminary Findings

Musolino, Anna Maria; Supino, Maria Chiara; Buonsenso, Danilo; Ferro, Valentina; Valentini, Piero; Magistrelli, Andrea; Lombardi, Mary Haywood; Romani, Lorenza; D'Argenio, Patrizia; Campana, Andrea

Abstract— Recent evidence indicates the usefulness of lung ultrasound (LUS) in detecting coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pneumonia. However, no data are available on the use of LUS in children with COVID-19 pneumonia. In this report, we describe LUS features of 10 consecutively admitted children with COVID-19 in two tertiary-level pediatric hospitals in Rome. LUS revealed signs of lung involvement during COVID-19 infection. In particular, vertical artifacts (70%), pleural irregularities (60%), areas of white lung (10%) and subpleural consolidations (10%) were the main findings in patients with COVID-19. No cases of pleural effusions were found. According to our experience, the routine use of LUS in the evaluation of children with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, when performed by clinicians with documented experience in LUS, was useful in diagnosing and monitoring pediatric COVID-19 pneumonia, reducing unnecessary radiation/sedation in children and exposure of health care workers to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).