COVID-19 pathophysiology and ultrasound imaging: A multiorgan review

J Clin Ultrasound. 2022 Mar;50(3):326-338. doi: 10.1002/jcu.23160. Epub 2022 Feb 26.

Abstract

COVID-19 is a dynamic disease and may affect different tissues and organs as it progresses. Therefore, the impact generated by the disease in all its stages and organs requires a functional and versatile imaging technique able to detect particularities or artifacts dynamically. Ultrasonography fulfills all these requirements and exhibit several advantages relative to other imaging modalities, including portability, lower cost and biosafety. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ultrasonography displayed a crucial role in the triage, monitoring, indicating organ damages and enabling individualized therapeutical decisions in COVID-19 patients. This review is dedicated to highlight the main pathological effects correlated with ultrasound changes caused by COVID-19 in the lungs, heart and liver.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; echocardiography; multiorgan tropism; ultrasound.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19*
  • Humans
  • Lung / diagnostic imaging
  • Lung / pathology
  • Pandemics
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Ultrasonography