Lung ultrasound versus chest computed tomography for pregnant inpatients with COVID-19

To compare lung ultrasound (US) and computed tomography (CT) in the assessment of pregnant women with COVID-19.

Prospective study comprising 39 pregnant inpatients with COVID-19 who underwent pulmonary assessment with CT and US with a maximum span of 48 h between the exams. The thorax was divided into 12 regions and assessed in terms of the following: the presence of B-lines (>2), coalescent B-lines, consolidation on US; presence of interlobular thickening, ground glass, consolidation on CT. The two methods were scored by adding up the scores from each thoracic region.

A significant correlation was found between the scores obtained by the two methods (rICC = 0.946; p < 0.001). They were moderately in agreement concerning the frequency of altered pulmonary regions (weighted kappa = 0.551). In US, a score over 15, coalescent B-lines, and consolidation were predictors of the need for oxygen, whereas the predictors in CT were a lung score over 16 and consolidation. The two methods, US (p < 0.001; AUC = 0.915) and CT (p < 0.001; AUC = 0.938), were fairly accurate in predicting the need for oxygen.

In pregnant women, lung US and chest CT are of similar accuracy in assessing lungs affected by COVID-19 and can predict the need for oxygen.