Lung Sonography in Obstetrics during COVID-19

Abstract

In the current coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, certain patients are becoming seriously ill. Lung pathologies are common, and some patients even go on to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which requires intubation and artificial respiration of the critically ill patient. Imaging of the lung is absolutely necessary to obtain a diagnosis, assess the course of disease and for treatment. Particularly in gynecology and obstetrics (OBGYN), ultrasound scans of the lung can be a useful additional tool when caring for pregnant patients in the delivery room. As obstetricians use ultrasound imaging a lot in routine clinical practice, in the current pandemic setting, routine prenatal imaging screening could be expanded by the addition of ultrasound scans of the lung. Lung sonography can offer important additional information, particularly in obstetrics where the indications for radiation-emitting imaging are particularly restrictive. If there is a sonographic suspicion of lung involvement, then, depending on the symptoms and the morphological extent of the ultrasound findings, it may be necessary to consider admitting the patient to hospital for close fetal and maternal monitoring.