To assess the application value of lung ultrasound in patients with new coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) treated in the intensive care unit (ICU).

A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 50 COVID-19 patients admitted to the B2 ICU of Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital from 20 February to 19 March 2020. Patients underwent lung CT and lung ultrasonography when they were admitted to ICU. APACHE Ⅱ score, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, static lung compliance, oxygenation index, and lung ultrasound score were recorded. CT images were compared with ultrasound images. The patient's survival within 28 days after ICU admission and the ICU hospitalization days of the surviving patients were also recorded.

The lung ultrasound scores of the patients were positively correlated with APACHEⅡ score, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6, and negatively correlated with static lung compliance and oxygenation index (P<0.01). Taking lung CT images as the gold standard, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of lung ultrasound for diagnosis of lung diseases were 90.3% (542/600), 87.1% (316/363), and 95.3% (226/237), respectively. The lung ultrasound scores of patients who survived 28 days after ICU admission were positively correlated with the ICU treatment time (P<0.01).

Pulmonary ultrasound has high consistency with lung CT in COVID-19 patients treated in the ICU and can effectively assess the patient's severity, inflammation, and lung compliance and predict patient prognosis. It can be used as a useful monitoring method for patients with COVID-19 in the ICU.