Egyptian Consensus on the Role of Lung Ultrasonography During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Background & Aims

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global health problem, presenting with symptoms ranging from mild nonspecific symptoms to serious pneumonia. Early screening techniques are essential in the diagnosis and assessment of disease progression. This consensus was designed to clarify the role of lung ultrasonography versus other imaging modalities in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A multidisciplinary team consisting of experts from different specialties (ie, pulmonary diseases, infectious diseases, intensive care unit and emergency medicine, radiology, and public health) who deal with patients with COVID-19 from different geographical areas was classified into task groups to review the literatures from different databases and generate 10 statements. The final consensus statements were based on expert physically panelists’ discussion held in Cairo July 2021 followed by electric voting for each statement.

Results

The statements were electronically voted to be either “agree,” “not agree,” or “neutral.” For a statement to be accepted to the consensus, it should have 80% agreement.

Conclusion

Lung ultrasonography is a rapid and useful tool, which can be performed at bedside and overcomes computed tomography limitations, for screening and monitoring patients with COVID-19 with an accepted accuracy rate.

Interleukin-17 Gene Expression and Serum Levels in AsthmaDegenerative Model

Asthma is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases. It is associated with significant morbidity and shows an increasing prevalence over time. Accumulating evidence suggests that interleukin (IL)-17 has a key role in severe asthma. The aim of the study was to determine quantitatively gene expression of IL-17 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMN) & the level of IL-17 in the serum of asthmatic patients, to correlate the level of IL-17 with the severity of asthma and to compare between gene expression of IL-17 and its serum level. Forty (40) asthmatic patients were enrolled and subdivided into 2 subgroups; controlled & uncontrolled asthma according to GINA, 2014. In addition, twenty (20) healthy control subjects were included. Blood samples were subjected to real time PCR assays for IL-17 mRNA gene expression and serum was tested by ELISA for estimation of IL-17 serum levels. Significant higher serum IL-17 levels were found in patients with uncontrolled asthma compared to patients with controlled asthma and healthy control group. Mean serum IL-17 value was 87.24 pg/ml in uncontrolled asthma, 75.9 pg/ml in controlled asthma and 47.0 pg/ml in healthy group (P= 0.00). IL-17 mRNA gene expression levels (ΔΔ Ct) were also significantly elevated in uncontrolled asthma compared to patients with controlled asthma and healthy control group. Mean IL-17 mRNA gene expression levels were 33.7 units in uncontrolled asthma, 7.0 in controlled asthma and 0.30 in healthy group (P=0.00).