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. 2020 Jun;24(6):459-464.
doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23459.

Comparison of Efficacy of LUS and CXR in the Diagnosis of Children Presenting with Respiratory Distress to Emergency Department

Laila M Hegazy  1 , Ahmed R Rezk  1 , Hossam M Sakr  2 , Asmaa S Ahmed  1
Affiliations

Comparison of Efficacy of LUS and CXR in the Diagnosis of Children Presenting with Respiratory Distress to Emergency Department

Laila M Hegazy et al. Indian J Crit Care Med. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

Introduction: Respiratory distress (RD) in children is a life-threatening condition. Delay in diagnosis has a deleterious effect on morbidity and mortality. The bedside lung ultrasound in emergency (BLUE) is a fast method that aims to accelerate the diagnosis with minimal radiological exposure. We targeted to evaluate the efficacy of BLUE protocol to speed and increase the precision of recognizing the cause of RD compared with chest X-ray (CXR) in the emergency department.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study on 63 children with RD attended the emergency of a tertiary, university-affiliated, pediatric medical center between January 2017 and January 2018.

Results: Most cases were males 52.4%. We designed to estimate the value of BLUE as a diagnostic tool for RD and comparing it with CXR. Pneumonia with or without pleural effusion was the main etiology of RD detected by BLUE in 47.7% of studied children, pulmonary edema in 22.2%, bronchiolitis and asthma in 17.4%, and pneumothorax in 12.7%. Lung ultrasound (LUS) was superior to CXR in the diagnosis of RD cause, and most cases, 47.7% were diagnosed with pneumonia with a sensitivity of 93.5% and specificity 96.9%.

Conclusion: Bedside lung ultrasound in emergency is an effective tool for identifying the cause of RD which is more sensitive and specific compared with CXR.

How to cite this article: Hegazy LM, Rezk AR, Sakr HM, Ahmed AS. Comparison of Efficacy of LUS and CXR in the Diagnosis of Children Presenting with Respiratory Distress to Emergency Department. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(6):459-464.

Keywords: Bedside lung ultrasound in emergency protocol; Chest X-ray; Emergency; Pediatrics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Source of support: Nil Conflict of interest: None

Figures

Figs 1A to D
Figs 1A to D
Anterior lung consolidation C profile
Figs 2A to D
Figs 2A to D
RT pleural effusion (C) associated with lung consolidation (D) PLAPS profile
Figs 3A to D
Figs 3A to D
Confluent B-lines
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Lung ultrasound M mode_V2
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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