Feasibility of lung ultrasound to assess pulmonary overflow in congenital heart disease children.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary overflow (PO) is one of the most common complications in congenital heart disease (CHD) children with an incidence of 48-60% approximately. This study explored the feasibility of using lung ultrasound (LUS) to assess pulmonary overcirculation in CHD children and compare the diagnostic performance of LUS and chest radiography (CXR) for the detection of pulmonary overcirculation.

METHOD: The upper anterior area, lower anterior area, upper lateral area, and lower posterior area, in each hemithorax were scanned in 59 children in the supine position. A-lines, B-lines in each scanned region were recorded, and the worst LUS abnormality in the video clip was considered to characterize the examined region. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and diagnostic accuracy of LUS and CXR were compared using computed tomography (CT) as a standard criterion.

RESULTS: PO was diagnosed in 53% (31/59), 63% (37/59), and 51% (30/59) children with CT, CXR, and LUS, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of PO were 96%, 94%, and 95% for LUS and 74%, 50%, and 63% for CXR. The percentage of mild, moderate, and severe PO diagnosed via LUS were 31% (18/59), 19% (11/59), and 2% (1/59), respectively. Furthermore, the PO incidence diagnosed by LUS in CHD children less than 1 year old were significantly higher than those beyond 1 year old.

CONCLUSION: LUS is a noninvasive and useful tool for the detection and assessment of PO in CHD children at the operating room, and is better than CXR in sensitivity and specificity, comparable to CT.