Critical Care volume 19, Article number: P225 (2015)
Chest-X-ray is recommended for routine use in patients with suspected pneumonia, but its use in emergency settings is limited. In this study, the diagnostic performance of a new method for quantitative analysis of lung ultrasonography was compared with bedside chest X-ray and visual lung ultrasonography for detection of community-acquired pneumonia, using thoracic computed tomography as a gold standard.
Thirty-two spontaneously breathing patients with suspected community-acquired pneumonia undergoing computed tomography examination were consecutively enrolled. Each hemi-thorax was evaluated for the presence or absence of abnormalities by chest X-ray and quantitative or visual ultrasonography.
Quantitative ultrasonography showed higher sensitivity (93%), specificity (95%), and diagnostic accuracy (94%) than chest X-ray (64%, 80%, and 69%, respectively), or visual ultrasonography (68%, 95%, and 77%, respectively), or their combination (77%, 75%, and 77%, respectively).
Quantitative lung ultrasonography was considerably more accurate than either chest X-ray or visual ultrasonography in the diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia and it may represent a useful first-line approach for confirmation of clinical diagnosis in emergency settings.
Corradi F, Ball L, Brusasco C, Riccio AM, Baroffio M, Bovio G, et al: Assessment of extravascular lung water by quantitative ultrasound and CT in isolated bovine lung. Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 2013, 187: 244-9. 10.1016/j.resp.2013.04.002.
Quanta Imaging Technology: [http://www.quanta.camelotbio.com]
Corradi, F., Brusasco, C., Manca, T. et al. Quantitative ultrasonography for pneumonia. Crit Care 19 (Suppl 1), P225 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/cc14305
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/cc14305
Critical Care
