Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) provides diagnostic and prognostic information for viral and bacterial pneumonia. Implementation of POCUS has relevance in both high- and low-income settings, where the COVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges including infection control and longitudinal assessments of patients.
Dr. Paul Blair, associate director of Austere Environments Consortium for Enhances Sepsis Outcomes, Dr. Gigi Liu, assistant professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine, and Dr. Trishul Siddharthan, assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary, were awarded a one year $900,000 award from the Department of Defense to study the longitudinal effects of COVID-19 on lung injury in domestic and global settings using standardized POCUS protocols. The study will include the Johns Hopkins Hospital Clinical characterization protocol for severe infectious diseases (CCPSEI) cohort, as well as Department of Defense sites in the U.S., Uganda and Cambodia. The results of the study are expected to provide diagnostic algorithms for pneumonia among adults, as well as additional insight into lung injury from COVID-19.
