Lung ultrasound as a predictor of mortality of patients with COVID-19

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the performance of lung ultrasound to determine short-term outcomes of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit. Methods This is a Prospective, observational study. Between July and November 2020, 59 patients were included and underwent at least two LUS assessments using LUS score (range 0-42) on day of admission, day 5th, and 10th of admission. Results Age was 66.5±15 years, APACHE II was 8.3±3.9, 12 (20%) patients had malignancy, 46 (78%) patients had a non-invasive ventilation/high-flow nasal cannula and 38 (64%) patients required mechanical ventilation. The median stay in ICU was 12 days (IQR 8.5-20.5 days). ICU or hospital mortality was 54%. On admission, the LUS score was 20.8±6.1; on day 5th and day 10th of admission, scores were 27.6±5.5 and 29.4±5.3, respectively (P=0.007). As clinical condition deteriorated the LUS score increased, with a positive correlation of 0.52, P