NAN Utrasound and COVID-19

In the business update given by NAN to the ASX there was reference to the sales activity of the NAN sales force being severely disrupted because HCWs and hospital/clinic admin being focussed on COVID 19 to almost total exclusion of normal hospital activity. The market took that view and NAN's SP promptly fell.
I was a little taken aback by that view.
In the past while I have learned that Ultrasound medical diagnostics is fast becoming mainstream. Ultasound is becoming more efficient than Xrays or CT scans in producing a focussed diagnosis of a a patient's medical status. I have wondering if this is true in testing for COVID-19 and if present .........is it agressive or mild?

Here is an answer.................

Features of lung ultrasound in COVID 19 infection

Posted on March 18, 2020

Literatureis coming out on the lung ultrasonography of novel coronavirus. This is asummary of the literature so far

• The features of lung ultrasound are not specific for COVID 19 pneumonitis or pneumonia but highly suggestive in patients presenting with a history suggestive of infection with novel coronavirus
• Lung ultrasound is strongly recommended for the early diagnosis of COVID -19 pneumonia in all the patients who present to the emergency department with flu-like symptoms in novel COVID-19 era.
• Lung ultrasound has been used as a triage tool in the Emergency Department to identify those patients requiring admission and those patients able to be discharged home
• Lung ultrasound is more sensitive than chest x-ray, with a diffuse B-line pattern correlating to good response to PEEP
• Lung ultrasound patterns range from mild alveolar patterns, to severe bilateral interstitial pattern to lung consolidation corresponding to less severe to more severe disease
• Lung findings are more prominent in the posterior lower lung zones
• The spread of the infection appears to be from the peripheries of the lung to the centre of the lung in most cases
• Lung findings are more similar to pulmonary oedema than ARDS (hence recruitment manoeuvres in ICU – lying the patient prone)
• Lung ultrasound patterns also depend on comorbidities
• CT is necessary as expected to identify lesions deep to the pleural surface
• From an ICU perspective, lung ultrasound has been used instead of X Ray or CT to track the evolution of the disease, to monitor lung
• recruitment manoeuvres, to guide response to prone position, to manage ECMO and to make decisions on weaning the patient from
• ventilatory support