Feasibility of Self-Performed Lung Ultrasound with Remote Teleguidance for Monitoring at Home COVID-19 Patients
During the COVID-19 pandemic, use of telemedicine with the aim of reducing the rate of viral transmission increased. This proof-of-concept observational study was planned to test the feasibility of a home-based lung ultrasound (LUS) follow-up performed by patients with mild COVID-19 infection on the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Biomedicines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/10/10/2569 |
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| author | Emanuele Pivetta Anna Ravetti Giulia Paglietta Irene Cara Federico Buggè Gitana Scozzari Milena M. Maule Fulvio Morello Stefania Locatelli Enrico Lupia |
| author_facet | Emanuele Pivetta Anna Ravetti Giulia Paglietta Irene Cara Federico Buggè Gitana Scozzari Milena M. Maule Fulvio Morello Stefania Locatelli Enrico Lupia |
| author_sort | Emanuele Pivetta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During the COVID-19 pandemic, use of telemedicine with the aim of reducing the rate of viral transmission increased. This proof-of-concept observational study was planned to test the feasibility of a home-based lung ultrasound (LUS) follow-up performed by patients with mild COVID-19 infection on themselves. We enrolled patients presenting to the emergency department with SARS-CoV-2 infection without signs of pneumonia and indication to discharge. Each patient received a brief training on how to perform LUS and a handheld ultrasound probe. Then, patients were contacted on a daily basis, and LUS images were acquired by the patients themselves under “teleguidance” by the investigator. Twenty-one patients were enrolled with a median age of 44 years. All evaluations were of sufficient quality for a follow up. Probability of a better LUS quality was related to higher degree (odds ratio, OR, 1.42, 95% CI 0.5–3.99) and a lower quality to evaluation time (from 0.71, 95% CI 0.55–0.92 for less than 7 min, to 0.52, 95% CI 0.38–0.7, between 7 and 10 min, and to 0.29, 95% CI 0.2–0.43, for evaluations longer than 10 min). No effect related to gender or age was detected. LUS performed by patients and remotely overseen by expert providers seems to be a feasible and reliable telemedicine tool. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:37:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-412b56d525cc4c27b9f4d9188aa6d014 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9059 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:37:45Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biomedicines |
| spelling | doaj.art-412b56d525cc4c27b9f4d9188aa6d0142023-11-23T23:05:14ZengMDPI AGBiomedicines2227-90592022-10-011010256910.3390/biomedicines10102569Feasibility of Self-Performed Lung Ultrasound with Remote Teleguidance for Monitoring at Home COVID-19 PatientsEmanuele Pivetta0Anna Ravetti1Giulia Paglietta2Irene Cara3Federico Buggè4Gitana Scozzari5Milena M. Maule6Fulvio Morello7Stefania Locatelli8Enrico Lupia9Division of Emergency Medicine and High Dependency Unit, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, 10126 Turin, ItalyDivision of Emergency Medicine and High Dependency Unit, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, 10126 Turin, ItalyDivision of Emergency Medicine and High Dependency Unit, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, 10126 Turin, ItalyDivision of Emergency Medicine and High Dependency Unit, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, 10126 Turin, ItalyCittà di Torino Local Health Unit and Out-of-Hospital Care Special Unit, 10126 Turin, ItalyHospital Medical Direction, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, 10126 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, ItalyDivision of Emergency Medicine and High Dependency Unit, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, 10126 Turin, ItalyDivision of Emergency Medicine and High Dependency Unit, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, 10126 Turin, ItalyDivision of Emergency Medicine and High Dependency Unit, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, 10126 Turin, ItalyDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, use of telemedicine with the aim of reducing the rate of viral transmission increased. This proof-of-concept observational study was planned to test the feasibility of a home-based lung ultrasound (LUS) follow-up performed by patients with mild COVID-19 infection on themselves. We enrolled patients presenting to the emergency department with SARS-CoV-2 infection without signs of pneumonia and indication to discharge. Each patient received a brief training on how to perform LUS and a handheld ultrasound probe. Then, patients were contacted on a daily basis, and LUS images were acquired by the patients themselves under “teleguidance” by the investigator. Twenty-one patients were enrolled with a median age of 44 years. All evaluations were of sufficient quality for a follow up. Probability of a better LUS quality was related to higher degree (odds ratio, OR, 1.42, 95% CI 0.5–3.99) and a lower quality to evaluation time (from 0.71, 95% CI 0.55–0.92 for less than 7 min, to 0.52, 95% CI 0.38–0.7, between 7 and 10 min, and to 0.29, 95% CI 0.2–0.43, for evaluations longer than 10 min). No effect related to gender or age was detected. LUS performed by patients and remotely overseen by expert providers seems to be a feasible and reliable telemedicine tool.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/10/10/2569telemedicineCOVID-19lungultrasonography |
| spellingShingle | Emanuele Pivetta Anna Ravetti Giulia Paglietta Irene Cara Federico Buggè Gitana Scozzari Milena M. Maule Fulvio Morello Stefania Locatelli Enrico Lupia Feasibility of Self-Performed Lung Ultrasound with Remote Teleguidance for Monitoring at Home COVID-19 Patients Biomedicines telemedicine COVID-19 lung ultrasonography |
| title | Feasibility of Self-Performed Lung Ultrasound with Remote Teleguidance for Monitoring at Home COVID-19 Patients |
| title_full | Feasibility of Self-Performed Lung Ultrasound with Remote Teleguidance for Monitoring at Home COVID-19 Patients |
| title_fullStr | Feasibility of Self-Performed Lung Ultrasound with Remote Teleguidance for Monitoring at Home COVID-19 Patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Feasibility of Self-Performed Lung Ultrasound with Remote Teleguidance for Monitoring at Home COVID-19 Patients |
| title_short | Feasibility of Self-Performed Lung Ultrasound with Remote Teleguidance for Monitoring at Home COVID-19 Patients |
| title_sort | feasibility of self performed lung ultrasound with remote teleguidance for monitoring at home covid 19 patients |
| topic | telemedicine COVID-19 lung ultrasonography |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/10/10/2569 |
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