Empowering the willing: the feasibility of tele-mentored self-performed pleural ultrasound assessment for the surveillance of lung health
| dc.contributor.author | Kirkpatrick, Andrew W. | |
| dc.contributor.author | McKee, Jessica L. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Ball, Chad G. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Ma, Irene W. Y. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Melniker, Lawrence A. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-01-09T01:03:19Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-01-09T01:03:19Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-01-03 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2022-01-09T01:03:18Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Abstract Background SARS-CoV-2 infection, manifesting as COVID-19 pneumonia, constitutes a global pandemic that is disrupting health-care systems. Most patients who are infected are asymptomatic/pauci-symptomatic can safely self-isolate at home. However, even previously healthy individuals can deteriorate rapidly with life-threatening respiratory failure characterized by disproportionate hypoxemic failure compared to symptoms. Ultrasound findings have been proposed as an early indicator of progression to severe disease. Furthermore, ultrasound is a safe imaging modality that can be performed by novice users remotely guided by experts. We thus examined the feasibility of utilizing common household informatic-technologies to facilitate self-performed lung ultrasound. Methods A lung ultrasound expert remotely mentored and guided participants to image their own chests with a hand-held ultrasound transducer. The results were evaluated in real time by the mentor, and independently scored by three independent experts [planned a priori]. The primary outcomes were feasibility in obtaining good-quality interpretable images from each anatomic location recommended for COVID-19 diagnosis. Results Twenty-seven adults volunteered. All could be guided to obtain images of the pleura of the 8 anterior and lateral lung zones (216/216 attempts). These images were rated as interpretable by the 3 experts in 99.8% (647/648) of reviews. Fully imaging one’s posterior region was harder; only 108/162 (66%) of image acquisitions was possible. Of these, 99.3% of images were interpretable in blinded evaluations. However, 52/54 (96%) of participants could image their lower posterior lung bases, where COVID-19 is most common, with 99.3% rated as interpretable. Conclusions Ultrasound-novice adults at risk for COVID-19 deterioration can be successfully mentored using freely available software and low-cost ultrasound devices to provide meaningful lung ultrasound surveillance of themselves that could potentially stratify asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic patients with early risk factors for serious disease. Further studies examining practical logistics should be conducted. Trial Registration: ID ISRCTN/77929274 on 07/03/2015. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | The Ultrasound Journal. 2022 Jan 03;14(1):2 | |
| dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13089-021-00250-6 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1880/114261 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/44978 | |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | en | |
| dc.rights.holder | The Author(s) | |
| dc.title | Empowering the willing: the feasibility of tele-mentored self-performed pleural ultrasound assessment for the surveillance of lung health | |
| dc.type | Journal Article |