Lung ultrasound to predict pediatric intensive care admission in infants with bronchiolitis (LUSBRO study)

Abstract

It is extremely difficult to stratify bronchiolitis and predict the need for admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). We aimed to evaluate the capacity of a new lung ultrasound score (LUSBRO) to predict the need for admission to the PICU compared to a clinical score. This was a prospective observational single-center study that includes infants < 6 month of age admitted to a hospital due to acute bronchiolitis. Both scores were calculated at admission. The main outcome was PICU admission. Second endpoints were the need for mechanical ventilation, respiratory support duration, and the length of stay in the hospital. Eighty patients were included, with a median age of 53 days (IQR 29-115). Forty-four patients (55%) required PICU admission. LUSBRO score showed a better AUC compared to the clinical score to predict PICU admission: 0.932 (95% CI 0.873-0.990) vs. 0.675 (95% CI 0.556-0.794) and a positive correlation with the hospital length of stay. The best cut-off point for predicting the need for PICU admission for LUSBRO score was 6, showing a sensitivity of 90.91% and a specificity of 88.89%.Conclusions: The LUSBRO score is a useful tool to predict the need for admission to the PICU. What is Known • It is extremely difficult to stratify which patients affected by bronchiolitis should be precociously transferred to a third level hospital and will require pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission. • Clinical scores have been created but neither of them is accurate. What is New • The LUSBRO score is a useful tool to predict the need for admission to the PICU of patients with bronchiolitis and, consequently, to predict the patients who should be transferred to a tertiary hospital to optimize respiratory support.

Keywords: Bronchiolitis; Pediatric intensive care; Ultrasound.