Lung ultrasound-guided treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome in a critically ill patient with severe COVID-19: a case report

Abstract

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a very common disease in the intensive care unit (ICU), with rapid progression and high mortality. Infections caused by the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can easily progress to ARDS in severely ill patients. Early and rapid diagnosis as well as screening for ARDS during treatment is very important. Owing to the particularity of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), computed tomography (CT) examination is not always possible, and chest radiographs have a low sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of lung diseases. Therefore, bedside lung ultrasound (LUS) can be used as a new tool for the diagnosis of ARDS in patients with COVID-19. In the non-gravity-dependent pulmonary field, there are bilateral non-uniform B lines. In the dorsal pulmonary field, the B lines are denser and even appears as “white lung”. Areas of consolidation are usually found in the dorsal pulmonary field, especially at the basilar part, with static or dynamic air bronchogram sign. In the fused B-line area, the “lung slip” usually decreases or disappears. The pleural line is irregular, thickened, and rough, with multiple small consolidations. The pulmonary ultrasound findings of primary and secondary ARDS were similar. Case Description: In the abovementioned context, we share our experience with the treatment of one critical COVID-19 case and review the literature. An 81-year-old male patient with ARDS which is caused by COVID-19. The implementation of prone ventilation was guided by LUS, and we found that the pulmonary edema in the gravity-dependent area did improve over time. After 9 h of prone ventilation, the consolidation of the posterior area began to open. LUS shows the change from fragment sign to B line. After 16 h, the B-line was educed, indicating that pulmonary edema was improving. The oxygenation could be improved. Pulmonary ultrasound makes the monitoring of prone ventilation visualized. As the same time, the patient was accepted high-flow nasal oxygen, mechanical ventilation and treated with oseltamivir, lopinavir/ ritonavir, abidol and cefoperazone-sulbactam. Conclusions: LUS-guided treatment was the key factor in the successful treatment of this case.