Abstract
IntroductionThe ultrasound (US) of the chest is useful in the diagnosis of different parenchymal, pleural, and chest wall diseases. The US is preferred because no radiation is used (safe during pregnancy), is not expensive, is easy portability, provides real-time imaging, and has the ability to make a dynamic imaging.AimThis study aimed for the correlation between B-lines and spirometry, arterial blood gases, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) in patients with diffuse parenchymal lung disease (DPLD).DesignA prospective study was conducted.SettingThe study was conducted at Fayoum University Hospital in Egypt between January 2017 and June 2017.Patients and methodsThis study was done on 60 patients with DPLD. They were subjected to a full medical history, a detailed clinical examination, high-resolution computed tomography, echocardiography, arterial blood gases analysis, spirometry, 6MWT, and chest US.ResultsThe studied group showed female predominance, with 54 (90%) patients. They had a wide range of age from 20 to 75 years, and their mean age was 47.5±13.6 years. Most of them were involved in breeding birds, exposed to biomass, and nonsmokers. The studied patients had bilateral B-lines. The number of B-lines was positively correlated with PaO2, 6MWT, forced vital capacity, and PASP and negatively correlated with high-resolution computed tomography affection, whereas the distance between B-lines was inversely correlated with each of PaO2, numbers of B-line, 6MWT, forced vital capacity, and PASP. Most of patients had irregular and thickened pleura (71.6%), and abolished lung sliding was seen in 51.6%.ConclusionChest US may be used in the evaluation of DPLD. Multiple B-lines with thickened and irregular pleural line are suggestive of DPLD.
Highlights
The ultrasound (US) of the chest is useful in the diagnosis of different parenchymal, pleural, and chest wall diseases
Aim This study aimed for the correlation between B-lines and spirometry, arterial blood gases, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) in patients with diffuse parenchymal lung disease (DPLD)
The number of B-lines was positively correlated with PaO2, 6MWT, forced vital capacity, and PASP and negatively correlated with high-resolution computed tomography affection, whereas the distance between B-lines was inversely correlated with each of PaO2, numbers of B-line, 6MWT, forced vital capacity, and PASP
Summary
The ultrasound (US) of the chest is useful in the diagnosis of different parenchymal, pleural, and chest wall diseases. Diffuse parenchymal lung diseases (DPLD) are a collection of diseases that are characterized by combinations of inflammation and fibrosis, which involve the space present between alveolar epithelium and the endothelial basement membrane [1]. The ultrasound (US) of the chest is important in the diagnosis of a different range of parenchymal, pleural, and chest wall diseases [2]. In patients with DPLD, subpleural interlobular septae become thickened by the deposition of collagen and fibrous tissues. By investigating lung surface by transthoracic US, a great impedance gradient between thickened septae and the air in lung leads to deflection of the US beams, which causes appearance of diffuse B-lines all over lung surface [3].
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