Comparison of Ultrasound and CT Imaging for the Diagnosis of Coronavirus Disease and Influenza A Pneumonia

Abstract

ObjectiveThe outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) coincided with the season of influenza A pneumonia, a common respiratory infectious disease. Therefore, this study compared ultrasonography and computed tomography (CT) for the diagnosis of the two diseases.MethodsPatients with COVID‐19 or influenza A infection hospitalized at our hospital were included. The patients were examined by ultrasonography every day. The CT examination results within 1 day before and after the day of the highest ultrasonography score were selected as the controls. The similarities and differences between the ultrasonography and CT results in the two groups were compared.ResultsThere was no difference between the ultrasonography and CT scores (P = .307) for COVID‐19, while there was a difference between ultrasonography and CT scores for influenza A pneumonia (P = .024). The ultrasonography score for COVID‐19 was higher than that for influenza A pneumonia (P = .000), but there was no difference between the CT scores (P = .830). For both diseases, there was no difference in ultrasonography and CT scores between the left and right lungs; there were differences between the CT scores of the upper and middle lobes, as well as between the upper and lower lobes of the lungs; however, there was no difference between the lower and middle lobes of the lungs.ConclusionUltrasonography is equivalent to the gold standard CT for diagnosing and monitoring the progression of COVID‐19. Because of its convenience, ultrasonography has important application value. Furthermore, the diagnostic value of ultrasonography for COVID‐19 is higher than that for influenza A pneumonia.