Accuracy of Bedside Lung Ultrasound as a Rapid Triage Tool for Suspected Covid-19 Cases

This study was a prospective, cross-sectional cohort study. During their shifts, 3 accredited and certificated emergency physicians performed BLUS using BLUE protocol at the triage area of the ED on patients with suspected Covid-19. All of the patients underwent chest computed tomography. The BLUS findings were statistically compared with formal radiology reports of computed tomographies as the criterion standard for the diagnosis of Covid-19 pneumonia. Kolmogorov-Smirnov analysis, Shapiro-Wilk test, and Q-Q plots were performed with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for statistical analysis. Results A total of 72 patients were included in the study. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and overall accuracy of BLUS were 96.9% (95% CI, 84.2%–99.9%), 92.3% (95% CI, 79.1%–98.3%), 84.3% (95% CI, 64.5%–94.1%), 98.6% (95% CI, 91.1%–99.8%), and 93.7% (95% CI, 85.3%–98.0%), respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 84.3% (95% CI, 64.5%–94.1%) and 98.6% (95% CI, 91.1%–99.8%), respectively. The area under curve was found to be 0.946 (95% CI, 0.866–0.986; P
Source: Ultrasound Quarterly - Category: Radiology Tags: Original Research Source Type: research