Lung Ultrasound: Its Findings and New Applications in Neonatology and Pediatric Diseases
03 Apr 2021-Vol. 11, Iss: 4, pp 652
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the available evidence of lung ultrasound (LUS) in children and its main applications in pediatric diseases and their main advantages such as low cost, rapidity, lack of ionizing radiation, availability of bedside and repeatability of the method.
Abstract: Lung ultrasound has become increasingly used in both adult and pediatric populations, allowing the rapid evaluation of many lung and pleura diseases This popularity is due to several advantages of the method such as the low cost, rapidity, lack of ionizing radiation, availability of bedside and repeatability of the method These features are even more important after the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, given the possibility of recognizing through ultrasound the signs of interstitial lung syndrome typical of pneumonia caused by the virus The purpose of this paper is to review the available evidence of lung ultrasound (LUS) in children and its main applications in pediatric diseases
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TL;DR: In this article, the difference in lung ultrasound (LUS) score between the death and survival groups, and the relationship between LUS score and COVID-19 severity were both assessed.
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the use of lung ultrasound for the diagnosis of respiratory conditions through the interpretation of artefacts generated at the pleural surface, correlating them to disease-specific patterns is presented.
8 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors describe current available techniques for ultrasound elastography in children and the significance for routine use in children is shown, and further interesting applications are reported, including the use of ultrasound in medical applications.
Abstract: Ultrasound elastography (USE) is a modality that in addition to fundamental B-mode, Doppler, and contrast-enhanced sonography is suitable to make qualitative and quantitative statements about the stiffness of tissues. Introduced more than 20 years ago in adults, USE becomes now a diagnostic tool also in children. The aim of this paper is to describe current available techniques for USE in children. The significance for routine use in children is shown, and further interesting applications are reported.
3 citations
TL;DR: This study provides additional evidence about LUS in children with previous COVID-19 as a support to follow these patients in the months following the infection, and observes that the frequency of artifacts decreases with increasing time since infection.
Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, lung ultrasound (LUS) was widely used to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection. To date, there are patients with persistence of symptoms after acute infection. Therefore, it may be useful to have an objective tool to follow these patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the presence of LUS artifacts after SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and to analyze the associations between time elapsed since infection and symptomatology during acute infection. We conducted an observational study, enrolling 607 children infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the previous twelve months. All patients performed a LUS and medical history of demographic and clinical data. We observed irregular pleural lines in 27.5%, B-lines in 16.9%, and subpleural consolidations in 8.6% of the cases. These artifacts were more frequently observed in the lower lobe projections. We have observed that the frequency of artifacts decreases with increasing time since infection. In symptomatic patients during COVID infection, B-lines (p = 0.02) were more frequently found. In our sample, some children, even after months of acute infection, have ultrasound artifacts and showed an improvement with the passage of time from the acute episode. Our study provides additional evidence about LUS in children with previous COVID-19 as a support to follow these patients in the months following the infection.
3 citations
TL;DR: With high sensitivity and specificity, lung ultrasound appeared to be a promising tool not only for pediatric pneumonia diagnosis, but also for treatment guidance and disease follow-up, especially when combined with clinical presentation and laboratory findings.
Abstract: Pneumonia is a prevalent disease with considerable morbidity and mortality among the pediatric population. Early diagnosis and swift commencement of the correct treatment are vital for a favorable clinical outcome. Along with history-taking and clinical examination, imaging modalities commonly used, lung ultrasound provides a bedside, less invasive, radiation-free alternative to diagnose pneumonia when compared with other images such as chest x-ray (CXR) and computed tomography (CT) scan. It is therefore of the utmost magnitude to inspect the evidence of its accuracy and reliability in the diagnosis of this condition. The goal of this study is to look into the available data supporting the use of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of juvenile pneumonia, its relevance in distinguishing between viral and bacterial diseases, and its superiority as compared to other diagnostic methods. As mentioned, early detection and differentiation of the type of pneumonia can reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions and provide patients with a better prognosis, as well as the ability to predict the course of the disease and the need for advanced care or the development of complications. An extensive literature search of two popular online medical websites (PubMed and Embase) was conducted in this review, concentrating on studies that examined the role of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of pediatric pneumonia published in the last five years. Only studies published in the English language were included in this review. With high sensitivity and specificity, lung ultrasound appeared to be a promising tool not only for pediatric pneumonia diagnosis, but also for treatment guidance and disease follow-up, especially when combined with clinical presentation and laboratory findings.
2 citations
References
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TL;DR: The distribution of children’s COVID-19 cases varied with time and space, and most of the cases were concentrated in Hubei province and surrounding areas, providing strong evidence of human-to-human transmission.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To identify the epidemiological characteristics and transmission patterns of pediatric patients with the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China. METHODS: Nationwide case series of 2135 pediatric patients with COVID-19 reported to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention from January 16, 2020, to February 8, 2020, were included. The epidemic curves were constructed by key dates of disease onset and case diagnosis. Onset-to-diagnosis curves were constructed by fitting a log-normal distribution to data on both onset and diagnosis dates. RESULTS: There were 728 (34.1%) laboratory-confirmed cases and 1407 (65.9%) suspected cases. The median age of all patients was 7 years (interquartile range: 2–13 years), and 1208 case patients (56.6%) were boys. More than 90% of all patients had asymptomatic, mild, or moderate cases. The median time from illness onset to diagnoses was 2 days (range: 0–42 days). There was a rapid increase of disease at the early stage of the epidemic, and then there was a gradual and steady decrease. The disease rapidly spread from Hubei province to surrounding provinces over time. More children were infected in Hubei province than any other province. CONCLUSIONS: Children of all ages appeared susceptible to COVID-19, and there was no significant sex difference. Although clinical manifestations of children’s COVID-19 cases were generally less severe than those of adult patients, young children, particularly infants, were vulnerable to infection. The distribution of children’s COVID-19 cases varied with time and space, and most of the cases were concentrated in Hubei province and surrounding areas. Furthermore, this study provides strong evidence of human-to-human transmission.
3,053 citations
TL;DR: In this retrospective case series, chest CT scans of 21 symptomatic patients from China infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus were reviewed, with emphasis on identifying and characterizing the most common findings.
Abstract: In this retrospective case series, chest CT scans of 21 symptomatic patients from China infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) were reviewed, with emphasis on identifying and characterizing the most common findings. Typical CT findings included bilateral pulmonary parenchymal ground-glass and consolidative pulmonary opacities, sometimes with a rounded morphology and a peripheral lung distribution. Notably, lung cavitation, discrete pulmonary nodules, pleural effusions, and lymphadenopathy were absent. Follow-up imaging in a subset of patients during the study time window often demonstrated mild or moderate progression of disease, as manifested by increasing extent and density of lung opacities.
2,141 citations
Gonzaga University1, King Saud University2, Northside Hospital3, Praxis4, Foothills Medical Centre5, Cornell University6, National Research Council7, Harvard University8, University of Pennsylvania9, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai10, University of Jena11, Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University12, University of California, Davis13, University of South Carolina14
TL;DR: This document reflects the overall results of the first consensus conference on “point-of-care” lung ultrasound and utilizes the RAND appropriateness method for panel judgment and decisions/consensus.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to provide evidence-based and expert consensus recommendations for lung ultrasound with focus on emergency and critical care settings. A multidisciplinary panel of 28 experts from eight countries was involved. Literature was reviewed from January 1966 to June 2011. Consensus members searched multiple databases including Pubmed, Medline, OVID, Embase, and others. The process used to develop these evidence-based recommendations involved two phases: determining the level of quality of evidence and developing the recommendation. The quality of evidence is assessed by the grading of recommendation, assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) method. However, the GRADE system does not enforce a specific method on how the panel should reach decisions during the consensus process. Our methodology committee decided to utilize the RAND appropriateness method for panel judgment and decisions/consensus. Seventy-three proposed statements were examined and discussed in three conferences held in Bologna, Pisa, and Rome. Each conference included two rounds of face-to-face modified Delphi technique. Anonymous panel voting followed each round. The panel did not reach an agreement and therefore did not adopt any recommendations for six statements. Weak/conditional recommendations were made for 2 statements, and strong recommendations were made for the remaining 65 statements. The statements were then recategorized and grouped to their current format. Internal and external peer-review processes took place before submission of the recommendations. Updates will occur at least every 4 years or whenever significant major changes in evidence appear. This document reflects the overall results of the first consensus conference on “point-of-care” lung ultrasound. Statements were discussed and elaborated by experts who published the vast majority of papers on clinical use of lung ultrasound in the last 20 years. Recommendations were produced to guide implementation, development, and standardization of lung ultrasound in all relevant settings.
2,073 citations
University of California, San Diego1, University of Utah2, University of Pennsylvania3, Rhode Island Hospital4, Boston Children's Hospital5, Children's Mercy Hospital6, Baylor College of Medicine7, Cleveland Clinic8, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center9, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention10, University of Missouri–Kansas City11, Emory University12
TL;DR: Eidenced-based guidelines for management of infants and children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) were prepared by an expert panel comprising clinicians and investigators representing community pediatrics, public health, and the pediatric specialties of critical care, emergency medicine, hospital medicine, infectious diseases, pulmonology, and surgery.
Abstract: Evidenced-based guidelines for management of infants and children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) were prepared by an expert panel comprising clinicians and investigators representing community pediatrics, public health, and the pediatric specialties of critical care, emergency medicine, hospital medicine, infectious diseases, pulmonology, and surgery. These guidelines are intended for use by primary care and subspecialty providers responsible for the management of otherwise healthy infants and children with CAP in both outpatient and inpatient settings. Site-of-care management, diagnosis, antimicrobial and adjunctive surgical therapy, and prevention are discussed. Areas that warrant future investigations are also highlighted.
1,333 citations
TL;DR: Tomodensitometric correlations showed that the thickened sub-pleural interlobular septa, as well as ground-glass areas, two lesions present in acute pulmonary edema, were associated with the presence of the comet-tail artifact.
Abstract: Can ultrasound be of any help in the diagnosis of alveolar-interstitial syndrome? In a prospective study, we examined 250 consecutive patients in a medical intensive care unit: 121 patients with radiologic alveolar-interstitial syndrome (disseminated to the whole lung, n = 92; localized, n = 29) and 129 patients without radiologic evidence of alveolar-interstitial syndrome. The antero-lateral chest wall was examined using ultrasound. The ultrasonic feature of multiple comet-tail artifacts fanning out from the lung surface was investigated. This pattern was present all over the lung surface in 86 of 92 patients with diffuse alveolar-interstitial syndrome (sensitivity of 93.4%). It was absent or confined to the last lateral intercostal space in 120 of 129 patients with normal chest X-ray (specificity of 93.0%). Tomodensitometric correlations showed that the thickened sub-pleural interlobular septa, as well as ground-glass areas, two lesions present in acute pulmonary edema, were associated with the presence of the comet-tail artifact. In conclusion, presence of the comet-tail artifact allowed diagnosis of alveolar-interstitial syndrome.
947 citations