PulmCCM - March 16, 2020 - Jon-Emile S. K with illustrations by Canepa C
"Thoughts
Overall, it looks certain that the diagnosis of COVID-19 will initially present challenges as North America begins to grapple with SARS-CoV-2 in a way that other continents and countries, particularly China, already have. Nevertheless, it may be wise to follow the screening strategy adopted in China as their approach appears to have been quite successful. ‘Fever clinics’ established in China embraced aggressive use of both PCR and chest CT to help catch all possible infections. Given the early and sensitive findings of viral pneumonia detected by CT, its role as a screening adjunct seems clear. Nevertheless, chest CT is a limited resource and this may open the door for other, more available, modalities [e.g. point-of-care ultrasound, POCUS] to aide in the rapid diagnosis of viral pneumonia. Thus, intensivists may ultimately need to find POCUS love in the time of coronavirus."