Ultrasound_Lung

OBJECTIVES: Pneumothorax can be missed by bedside radiography, and computed tomography is the current alternative. We asked whether lung ultrasound could be of any help in this situation. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: The medical intensive care unit of a university-affiliated teaching hospital. PATIENTS: All patients admitted to the intensive care unit are routinely scanned with whole-body ultrasound (including screening for pneumothorax) and chest radiography...

A relatively new application of emergency ultrasound is its use in the diagnosis of pneumothorax. In patients with major trauma, early detection and treatment of pneumothorax are vital. Chest radiography in these patients is limited to anteroposterior (AP) supine films, in which radiographic features of pneumothorax may be quite subtle. Hence, rapid and accurate bedside ultrasonography can expedite resuscitation. Sonographic features of pneumothorax have been identified in a number of studies. The technique involves identification of the pleural line and observation for features such as "lung sliding" and comet-tail artifacts, which are absent in pneumothorax...

OBJECTIVE: We studied an ultrasound sign, the fleeting appearance of a lung pattern (lung sliding or pathologic comet-tail artifacts) replacing a pneumothorax pattern (absent lung sliding plus exclusive horizontal lines) in a particular location of the chest wall. This sign was called the "lung point". DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: The medical ICU of a university-affiliated teaching hospital. PATIENTS: The "lung point" was sought in 66 consecutive cases of proven pneumothorax analyzable using ultrasound--including 8 radio-occult cases diagnosed by means of CT and in 233 consecutive hemithoraces studied by CT and free of pneumothorax-- including 17 cases where pneumothorax was suspected...

OBJECTIVE: Ultrasound artifacts arising from the lung-wall interface are either vertical (comet-tail artifacts) or horizontal. The significance of these artifacts for the diagnosis of pneumothorax was assessed. DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. SETTING: The medical ICU of a university-affiliated teaching hospital. PATIENTS: We compared 41 complete pneumothoraces with 146 hemithoraces in 73 critically ill patients in which computed tomography showed absence of pneumothorax...

OBJECTIVE: Acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema and exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can have a similar clinical presentation, and X-ray examination does not always solve the problem of differential diagnosis. The potential of lung ultrasound to distinguish these two disorders was assessed. DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. SETTING: The medical ICU of a university-affiliated teaching hospital. PATIENTS: We investigated 66 consecutive dyspneic patients: 40 with pulmonary edema and 26 with COPD...