For prognostication of clinical deterioration in non-ventilated, hospitalized, coronavirus-infected people, a shorter 8-zone lung ultrasound protocol (in which there is an omission of posterior lung regions) exhibits comparable accuracy as the previously validated, 12-zone protocol, as elucidated from a study carried out by Nimrod Levy Adatto et al. Researchers aimed to determine if the link between sonographic findings and clinical outcomes among coronavirus disease people is similar between the validated 8-zone and 12-zone protocol.

Notably, 101 people were examined upon hospitalization and scored by two lung ultrasound protocols. The link between scores and composite outcomes including death, transfer to intensive care unit or onset of noninvasive or invasive mechanical ventilation was evaluated.

The lung ultrasound scores in both 12-zone and 8-zone protocols were linked with the composite outcomes during hospitalization (hazard ratio [HR] 1.13 and 1.21 respectively). No major difference was noted in the discriminatory receiver operating characteristic curve-area under the curve values for the 12-zone and 8-zone scores (0.754 and 0.767 respectively).