Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul 27:10:932409.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.932409. eCollection 2022.

Lung ultrasound in young children with neurological impairment: A proposed integrative clinical tool for deaeration-detection related to feeding

Simona Fiori  1   2 , Elena Moretti  2 , Carolina Amador  2 , Alice Martinelli  2 , Rosa Teresa Scaramuzzo  3 , Tiziana Controzzi  3 , Roberta Battini  1   2 , Luca Filippi  1   3 , Andrea Guzzetta  1   2 , Luna Gargani  4   5
Affiliations

Lung ultrasound in young children with neurological impairment: A proposed integrative clinical tool for deaeration-detection related to feeding

Simona Fiori et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Infants and children with neurological impairment, such as cerebral palsy (CP), often experience abnormal ingestion functions, including oropharyngeal dysphagia and gastroesophageal reflux disease, which led to aspiration-related respiratory complications, morbidity, hospitalization, or death. There is a lack of evidence-based, repeatable, infant-friendly instrumental procedures to assess aspiration-risk in infants with CP or other neurological disorders, with also a lack of clinical assessment measures to support the use of more invasive diagnostic techniques. To this purpose, in the current study we explore the feasibility of lung ultrasound (LUS), to assess lung deaeration possibly related to aspiration during meal, in a cohort of 35 subjects affected by CP or other encephalopathies, and 10 controls in the same age-range. We coupled LUS procedure with meal caregiver administration for each child. Our results support the feasibility of this innovative approach in the clinical setting. Exploratory findings revealed a number of lung abnormalities likely related to abnormal ingestion function in subjects. Subgroup analyses revealed possible differences in LUS abnormalities between CP and other encephalopathies, possibly related to different mechanism of disease or dysfunction. Also, some evidences arose about the possible relationship between such LUS abnormalities and feeding and swallowing abilities in CP or other encephalopathies. LUS showed preliminarily feasibility and effectiveness in detecting meal-related LUS abnormalities in a dynamic manner in the clinical setting. This approach demonstrated usefulness as a potential tool for improving assessment and management in complex care of infants and young children with severe neurological disorders.

Keywords: aspiration; cerebral palsy; dysphagia; lung ultrasound (LUS); neurological disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Example of most significant findings in a subject from the CP group. (A) B-line; (B) confluent B-lines; and (C) consolidation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Gibson N, Blackmore AM, Chang AB, Cooper MS, Jaffe A, Kong WR, et al. Prevention and management of respiratory disease in young people with cerebral palsy: consensus statement. Dev Med Child Neurol. (2021) 63:172–82. 10.1111/dmcn.14640 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blackmore AM, Bear N, Blair E, Gibson N, Jalla C, Langdon K, et al. Factors associated with respiratory illness in children and young adults with cerebral palsy. J Pediatr. (2016) 168:151.e–7.e. 10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.09.064 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Morton RE, Wheatley R, Minford J. Respiratory tract infections due to direct and reflux aspiration in children with severe neurodisability. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. (1999) 41:329–34. 10.1017/s0012162299000729 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rudolph CD, Link DT. Feeding disorders in infants and children. Pediatr Clin North Am. (2002) 49:97–112. 10.1016/s0031-3955(03)00110-x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reid SM, Carlin JB, Reddihough DS. Survival of individuals with cerebral palsy born in Victoria, Australia, between 1970 and 2004. Dev Med Child Neurol. (2012) 54:353–60. 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2012.04218.x - DOI - PubMed