Dear Editor,
We would like to share ideas on the publication "Lung Ultrasonography for COVID-19 Patients in Out of Hospital Settings [1]" Abd Wahab et al. concluded that "The diagnostic imaging and staging of COVID-19 patients using lung ultrasound in out-of-hospital settings showed LUS detected lung pleural disease more often than CXR for stage 3 COVID-19 patients [1]." We agree that the lung ultrasonography is useful for diagnosing COVID-19. The use of lung ultrasonography in out-of- hospital setting might be an alternative management during pandemic. The use of point-of-care lung ultrasonography is still a challenge. There are different concerns in different settings. The availability of the tool and proficiency of practitioner on interpretation should be discussed [2]. The good diagnostic efficacy in the study by Wahab et al. might be due to the good knowledge of local practitioners. Also, the specific data on the pattern of lung ultrasonographic findings are still limited [3]. Training is necessary and it is an actual challenge during current pandemic. Finally, to use point of care lung ultrasonography, we should not forget to follow standard infectious control principle. The decontamination of the tool is necessary and has to be recognized.
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References
- 1.Abd Wahab M, Eddie EA, Ibrahim Ahmad UQA, Shafie H, Shaikh Abd Karim SB, Abdull Wahab SF. Lung ultrasonography for COVID-19 patients in out of hospital settings. J Ultrasound. 2022 doi: 10.1007/s40477-021-00609-4. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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- 3.Demi L, Muller M. Introduction to the special issue on lung ultrasound. J Acoust Soc Am. 2021;150(6):4151. doi: 10.1121/10.0007274. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]