Ultrasound assessment of diaphragmatic dysfunction in patients with SARS-COVID-19 as a parameterorotracheal intubation

Objective: To correlate by ultrasound the diaphragmatic dysfunction in patients with SARS-COVID-19 with the patterns of pulmonary aeration and oxygenation status, as a parameter of orotracheal intubation. Design: Prospective, observational cohort study, carried out between the months of July to September 2020. Setting: emergency area of the “Hospital de Especialidades Dr. Teodoro Maldonado Carbo”. Patients: 15 patients with epidemiological link and clinical picture of respiratory failure due to suspected SARS-COVID-19 were included, who underwent the BLUE protocol, measurement of diaphragmatic excursion, thickness and diaphragmatic thickness delta to perform the correlations having as a cohort point a value of < 1.5 cm of diaphragmatic excursion as the main parameter, in addition to PaFi and gradient Aa as measures of oxygenation status. Variables: Pulmonary involvement and diaphragmatic dysfunction, state of oxygenation by arterial blood gas. Results: Of the patients studied, 10 were men and 5 women, their average age being 44 years old, the average value of the pulmonary aeration score was 27, diaphragmatic excursion 1.29 cm, both diaphragmatic thickness with Delta of diaphragmatic thickening were not presented greater variation. There was a marked decrease in diaphragmatic excursion in patients with greater compromise of oxygenation and perfusion, demonstrating diaphragmatic dysfunction in the presence of hypercapnia and hypoxia hypoxia with an inverse correlation coefficient of -0.841. Conclusions: It was evidenced that patients with higher pulmonary aeration patterns who had lower diaphragmatic excursion and little variability in the Delta of diaphragmatic thickening ended up in orotracheal intubation, so this parameter can be considered when assessing the severity of patients with SARS-COVID 19 especially when deciding orotracheal intubation. © 2022 Sociedad de Anestesiologia de Chile. All rights reserved.

The novel use of diaphragmatic excursion on hospital admission to predict the need for ventilatory support in patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the ability of diaphragmatic excursion at hospital admission to predict outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: In this prospective observational study, we included adult patients with severe COVID-19 admitted to a tertiary hospital. Ultrasound examination of the diaphragm was performed within 12 h of admission. Other collected data included peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), respiratory rate, and computed tomography (CT) score. The outcomes included the ability of diaphragmatic excursion, respiratory rate, SpO2, and CT score at admission to predict the need for ventilatory support (need for non-invasive or invasive ventilation) and patient mortality using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) analysis. Univariate and multivariable analyses about the need for ventilatory support and mortality were performed. RESULTS: Diaphragmatic excursion showed an excellent ability to predict the need for ventilatory support, which was the highest among respiratory rate, SpO2, and CT score; the AUCs (95% confidence interval [CI]) was 0.96 (0.85-1.00) for the right diaphragmatic excursion and 0.94 (0.82-0.99) for the left diaphragmatic excursion. The right diaphragmatic excursion also had the highest AUC for predicting mortality in relation to respiratory rate, SpO2, and CT score. Multivariable analysis revealed that low diaphragmatic excursion was an independent predictor of mortality with an odds ratio (95% CI) of 0.55 (0.31-0.98). CONCLUSION: Diaphragmatic excursion on hospital admission can accurately predict the need for ventilatory support and mortality in patients with severe COVID-19. Low diaphragmatic excursion was an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality.

Combined Use of Electrocardiography and Ultrasound to Detect Cardiac and Pulmonary Involvement after Recovery from COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Case Series.

BACKGROUND: Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) may cause an acute multiorgan syndrome (coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)), data are emerging on mid- and long-term sequelae of COVID-19 pneumonia. Since no study has hitherto investigated the role of both cardiac and pulmonary ultrasound techniques in detecting such sequelae, this study aimed at evaluating these simple diagnostic tools to appraise the cardiopulmonary involvement after COVID-19 pneumonia. METHODS: Twenty-nine patients fully recovered from COVID-19 pneumonia were considered at our centre. On admission, all patients underwent 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) evaluation. Compression ultrasound (CUS) and lung ultrasound (LUS) were also performed. Finally, in each patient, pathological findings detected on LUS were correlated with the pulmonary involvement occurring after COVID-19 pneumonia, as assessed on thoracic computed tomography (CT). RESULTS: Out of 29 patients (mean age 70 ± 10 years; males 69%), prior cardiovascular and pulmonary comorbidities were recorded in 22 (76%). Twenty-seven patients (93%) were in sinus rhythm and two (7%) in atrial fibrillation. Persistence of ECG abnormalities from the acute phase was common, and nonspecific repolarisation abnormalities (93%) reflected the high prevalence of pericardial involvement on TTE (86%). Likewise, pleural abnormalities were frequently observed (66%). TTE signs of left and right ventricular dysfunction were reported in two patients, and values of systolic pulmonary artery pressure were abnormal in 16 (55%, despite the absence of prior comorbidities in 44% of them). Regarding LUS evaluation, most patients displayed abnormal values of diaphragmatic thickness and excursion (93%), which correlated well with the high prevalence (76%) of pathological findings on CT scan. CUS ruled out deep vein thrombosis in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Data on cardiopulmonary involvement after COVID-19 pneumonia are scarce. In our study, simple diagnostic tools (TTE and LUS) proved clinically useful for the detection of cardiopulmonary complications after COVID-19 pneumonia.