Ultrasound in medicine & biology, vol.47, no.8, pp.2080-2089, 2021 (SCI-Expanded)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 causes coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), which has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The aim of the study described here was to determine the severity of pneumonia and the clinical parameters related to a modified lung ultrasound score (mLUS) in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The study included 44 patients with proven COVID-19 pneumonia. Patients were divided into three groups on the basis of pneumonia severity: mild/moderate pneumonia (group I), severe pneumonia (group II) and critically ill patients (group III). It was determined that mLUS values in groups I-III were 6.51 +/- 4.12, 23.5 +/- 5.9 and 24.7 +/- 3.9, respectively. mLUS values were significantly higher in group II and III patients than in group I patients. There was a positive relationship between mLUS and age and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide level and a negative relationship with PaO2/FiO(2) (p = 0.032, beta = 0.275 vs. p = 0.012, beta = 0.315 vs. p = 0.001, beta = - 0.520, respectively). In patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, mLUS increases significantly with the severity of the disease. (C) 2021 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. All rights reserved.