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. 2023 Jan 16;10(1):173.
doi: 10.3390/children10010173.

Lung Ultrasound Role in Diagnosis of Neonatal Respiratory Disorders: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study

Rania Ismail  1 , Nehal M El Raggal  1 , Laila A Hegazy  1 , Hossam M Sakr  2 , Osama A Eldafrawy  3 , Yasmin A Farid  1
Affiliations

Lung Ultrasound Role in Diagnosis of Neonatal Respiratory Disorders: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study

Rania Ismail et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Lung ultrasound (LUS) has become one of the most exciting applications in neonatal point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), yet still lacks routine clinical use. This study assesses the utility of LUS for neonatal respiratory disorders (NRDs) diagnosis and follow-up compared to chest X-ray (CXR). A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 neonates having NRDs with a gestational age ≥28 weeks, excluding those having multiple congenital anomalies, chromosomal aberrations, hydrops fetalis and/or heart failure. CXR and LUS were done on admission for diagnosis and were repeated after 7 days, or if needed earlier within the 7 days. The diagnosis of NRDs by CXR and LUS on admission and after 7 days was comparable (p > 0.05). LUS diagnosis sensitivity and specificity for respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, meconium aspiration syndrome, pneumothorax and pulmonary atelectasis were 94.7/100%, 97.5/95%, 92.3/100%, 90.9/98.9% and 100/97.8%, respectively. The total agreement between LUS and CXR was 98.5% with 95% CI (0.88 to 0.92). LUS and CXR had considerable agreement in the diagnosis of NRDs. Being a reliable bedside modality of diagnosis and safer than CXR, LUS may be considered an alternative method for the diagnosis of neonates with NRDs.

Keywords: chest X-ray; lung ultrasound; neonatal respiratory disorders; respiratory distress.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare that they have neither conflict of interest nor financial ties for this study.

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