Abstract
Background: The present study compared lung ultrasound (USG) and chest radiography in suspected cases of pneumonia in critically ill patients. Subjects & Methods: 56 patients age above 20 years of age of both genders diagnosed with pneumonia were included. Patients were subjected to chest USG and X ray. Positive predictive values for both lung ultrasound and chest X-ray were calculated. Results: Age group 20-30 years had 4 patients, 30-40 years had 6, 40-50years had 10, 50-60 years had 16 and >60 years had 20 patients. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Chest x ray reveled 40 out of 56 cases positive and 16 negative and USH showed 52 positive and 4 negative. Positive predictive value (PPV) of chest x- ray was 71.4% and USG was 92.8%. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion: Lung ultrasound is an effective radiological tool for the assessment of suspected cases of pneumonia as compared to chest x ray.
Highlights
Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and in low-income countries, it is the leading cause of death
Diagnosing pneumonia is challenging to physicians, as there is wide variety of conditions to consider in its differential diagnosis, eg, cardiogenic and non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, malignancy, hemorrhage, pulmonary embolism, and inflammation secondary to noninfectious causes.[2]
The present study was conducted in Department of Radio diagnosis, Subbaih Institute of Medical Sciences, Shimoga among 56 patients age above 20 years of age of both genders diagnosed with pneumonia
Summary
Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and in low-income countries, it is the leading cause of death. Guidelines still consider CXR as the reference first-line diagnostic test in all patients with suspected pneumonia.[3] its diagnostic accuracy is not optimal, due to high interobserver variability in interpretation.Patient-related factors may bias the acquisition of a good radiograph, especially in those with severe symptoms These limitations may increase the number of chest CT prescriptions.[4] the routine application of LUS in emergency departments and intensive care units (ICUs) is associated with an improvement of diagnostic accuracy for pneumonia and may even in some cases replace CXR, reducing the need of CT scans.[5] The present study compared lung ultrasound (USG) and chest radiography in suspected cases of pneumonia in critically ill patients. Conclusion: Lung ultrasound is an effective radiological tool for the assessment of suspected cases of pneumonia as compared to chest x ray
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