Dataset Information

Empowering the willing: the feasibility of tele-mentored self-performed pleural ultrasound assessment for the surveillance of lung health.

ABSTRACT:

Background

SARS-CoV-2 infection, manifesting as COVID-19 pneumonia, constitutes a global pandemic that is disrupting health-care systems. Most patients who are infected are asymptomatic/pauci-symptomatic can safely self-isolate at home. However, even previously healthy individuals can deteriorate rapidly with life-threatening respiratory failure characterized by disproportionate hypoxemic failure compared to symptoms. Ultrasound findings have been proposed as an early indicator of progression to severe disease. Furthermore, ultrasound is a safe imaging modality that can be performed by novice users remotely guided by experts. We thus examined the feasibility of utilizing common household informatic-technologies to facilitate self-performed lung ultrasound.

Methods

A lung ultrasound expert remotely mentored and guided participants to image their own chests with a hand-held ultrasound transducer. The results were evaluated in real time by the mentor, and independently scored by three independent experts [planned a priori]. The primary outcomes were feasibility in obtaining good-quality interpretable images from each anatomic location recommended for COVID-19 diagnosis.

Results

Twenty-seven adults volunteered. All could be guided to obtain images of the pleura of the 8 anterior and lateral lung zones (216/216 attempts). These images were rated as interpretable by the 3 experts in 99.8% (647/648) of reviews. Fully imaging one's posterior region was harder; only 108/162 (66%) of image acquisitions was possible. Of these, 99.3% of images were interpretable in blinded evaluations. However, 52/54 (96%) of participants could image their lower posterior lung bases, where COVID-19 is most common, with 99.3% rated as interpretable.

Conclusions

Ultrasound-novice adults at risk for COVID-19 deterioration can be successfully mentored using freely available software and low-cost ultrasound devices to provide meaningful lung ultrasound surveillance of themselves that could potentially stratify asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic patients with early risk factors for serious disease. Further studies examining practical logistics should be conducted.

Trial registration

ID ISRCTN/77929274 on 07/03/2015.

SUBMITTER: Kirkpatrick AW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9417136 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Empowering the willing: the feasibility of tele-mentored self-performed pleural ultrasound assessment for the surveillance of lung health.

Kirkpatrick Andrew W AW McKee Jessica L JL Ball Chad G CG Ma Irene W Y IWY Melniker Lawrence A LA

The ultrasound journal 20220103 1

<h4>Background</h4>SARS-CoV-2 infection, manifesting as COVID-19 pneumonia, constitutes a global pandemic that is disrupting health-care systems. Most patients who are infected are asymptomatic/pauci-symptomatic can safely self-isolate at home. However, even previously healthy individuals can deteriorate rapidly with life-threatening respiratory failure characterized by disproportionate hypoxemic failure compared to symptoms. Ultrasound findings have been proposed as an early indicator of progre ...[more]

PMID: 34978611

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Dataset Information

Empowering the willing: the feasibility of tele-mentored self-performed pleural ultrasound assessment for the surveillance of lung health.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Trial registration

Publications

Empowering the willing: the feasibility of tele-mentored self-performed pleural ultrasound assessment for the surveillance of lung health.

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