Can Lung Ultrasound in Patients with Fever of Unknown Origin Detect Early Signs of COVID-19 Pneumonia?

The increasing interest in Lung Ultrasound (LUS) over the last years led to a great diffusion and better experience in using this technique, which became an essential tool for clinicians. During the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, LUS is being extensively applied to the evaluation and monitoring of lung damage in infected patients, improving their management in various clinical settings. In this case report we describe the detection of very early ultrasonographic signs of lung involvement in a patient who presented no clinical signs of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia, but who developed respiratory symptoms and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection 22 days later. Thisraises questions about the use of LUS to detect and monitor very early signs of lung disease in paucisymptomatic patients with low clinical suspicion of COVID-19. Moreover, interesting questions are raised regarding the use of LUS as a means to consistently observe the timing of lung disease evolution, which to this day remains unknown.