Adjuvant role of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of pneumonia in intensive care unit-patients

BackgroundRecently, sonography of the lung has been used in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism and pneumothorax. However, little is known about whether it can also be used in the diagnosis and follow up of pneumonia. So, the aim of this study was to assess the role of bedside lung ultrasound (US) in the diagnosis of pneumonia in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.Patients and methodsThe study was carried out on 100 cases clinically suspect of pneumonia who were admitted to respiratory ICU. Lung ultrasound, plain chest X-ray, then computed chest tomography (CT) scan were done for all cases.ResultsPneumonia was diagnosed by CT chest in 80 cases from 100 cases, 61 cases of them had US positive criteria of pneumonia and plain X-ray positive for pneumonia, 17 cases had US positive criteria of pneumonia and plain X-ray negative, 1 case had ultrasound negative and plain X-ray positive and 1 case had US negative and plain X-ray negative. So, most pneumonic cases were proved by lung US more than plain X-ray chest. Sensitivity and specificity of lung ultrasound were (94.5 and 75.0), respectively.ConclusionLung ultrasound has a valuable role in the diagnosis of pneumonia in ICU patients, as it is a bedside realtime, reliable, rapid and noninvasive technique.