2 | MATERIALS AND METHODS
We performed a systematic literature review of published research articles based on a search for the keywords “COVID-19,” “SARS-CoV2,” “coronavirus,” “2019-nCoV,” “lung ultrasound (LUS),” “sonography,” “adolescents” “children,” “childhood” and “newborn” in the online databases PubMed, Embase and Medline. Our systematic review was drafted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Figure 1). The inclusion criteria were English language and publication between 15 May 2019 and 10 October 2021. 181,978 articles were found with “COVID-19” as a keyword. We found 322 articles when limiting the search to lung ultrasound, Adolescents, child and newborn keywords. After reading these 192 manuscripts, we excluded articles that did not concern the study topic or involved an adult population. Among full-text articles assessed for eligibility, we excluded a letter and literature reviews (10 articles).
We included articles on pediatric patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection, detected by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay, carried out in upper and lower respiratory specimens taken by nasopharyngeal swab and oropharyngeal swab or respiratory tract aspirates, who underwent at least one time of diagnostic imaging of LUS. Studies enrolling confirmed COVID-19 cases without performing LUS were excluded.