Introduction In this study, the use of lung ultrasonography (LUS) to diagnosis lung findings was evaluated in patients with suspected COVID-19 who were admitted to the emergency department (ED). Methods This observational clinical study was conducted in the ED of the Ankara City Hospital during the period April 1–30, 2020. Patients who were admitted to the ED were triaged as COVID-19 infected and who agreed to undergo LUS/LCT (lung computed tomography) were included in the study. Results Included in the study were 40 patients who had been prediagnosed with COVID-19. Pneumonia was detected with LCT in 32 (80%) patients, while the LUS examination identified pneumonia in 23 patients. The most common finding in LCT was ground-glass opacity ( n = 29, 90.6%). Of the 23 patients with pneumonia findings in LUS, 15 (65.2%) had direct consolidation. Among the 32 patients who were found to have pneumonia as a result of LCT, 20 (62.5%) had signs of pneumonia on LUS examination, and 12 had no signs of pneumonia. In addition, 3 patients showed no signs of pneumonia with LCT, but they were misdiagnosed with pneumonia by LUS. The sensitivity of LUS in the diagnosis of pneumonia in the COVID-19 patients was 62.5%, while its specificity was 62.5%. In addition, its positive predictive value was 87.0%, and its negative predictive value was 29.4%. Conclusion LUS may also be used in the diagnosis of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients because it is a valuable and accessible bedside diagnostic tool. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10049-020-00807-3) shows RT-PCR results of patients with a definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 by lung computed tomography and patients with pneumonia detected by lung ultrasonography. The article and additional material are available at www.springermedizin.de . Please enter the title of the article in the search field. You will find the additional material under “Ergänzende Inhalte” in the article.

The objective of this study was to verify the nasogastric tube position with neck ultrasound and subxiphoid ultrasound, by giving air-water mixture and auscultation and to compare the effectiveness of these methods with chest radiography. This is a single-center, prospective, single-blind study. Patients who were admitted to our emergency department and had an indication of nasogastric tube placement were included. Nasogastric tube localization was verified with neck ultrasound and subxiphoid ultrasound, by giving air-water mixture, auscultation, and direct radiography that was accepted as the ‘gold standard technique'. A total of 49 patients (27 Male, 22 Female) with a mean age of 58.3±22.7 years were included. Sensitivity of neck ultrasound was 91.5%, and positive predictive value was 100%. As for the subxiphoid ultrasound sensitivity was 78.72%. When neck ultrasound + subxiphoid ultrasound and giving water-air mixture were combined sensitivity reached 95.74%. Sensitivity of neck ultrasound + subxiphoid ultrasound + air-water mixture + auscultation was 97.87% and positive predictive value was 100%. In the light of our results, neck and subxiphoid ultrasound seem to be an alternative method for verifying nasogastric tube localization. Combination of the air-water mixture and auscultation with ultrasound improves the sensitivity.

We found a decrease in thiol levels which have antioxidant properties in patients with AI. Decreased antioxidant level in the body is thought to play a role in the etiology of AI. In this regard, further studies are needed to elucidate the potential role of dynamic thiol/disulphide homeostasis in the pathogenesis of AI.

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