Accuracy of Point-of-care Lung Ultrasonography for Diagnosis of Acute Chest Syndrome in Pediatric Patients with Sickle Cell Disease and Fever.

OBJECTIVES: The objective was to determine the test performance characteristics for point-of-care lung ultrasonography (LUS) performed by pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) physicians compared with radiographic diagnosis of acute chest syndrome (ACS) in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and fever. METHODS: This was a prospective study of patients up to 21 years with SCD and fever requiring chest X-ray (CXR) evaluation for ACS. Before obtaining CXR, a blinded PEM physician performed LUS using a standardized scanning protocol. Positive LUS for ACS was defined as lung consolidation. All patients received CXR and follow-up. The criterion standard for ACS was consolidation on CXR as determined by a blinded radiologist. LUS clips were reviewed by a blinded expert PEM sonologist. RESULTS: A total of 116 febrile events from 91 patients with a median age of 5.7 years were enrolled by 15 PEM sonologists. CXR was positive for ACS in 15 (13%) patients, and LUS was positive for ACS in 19 (16%) patients. Positive LUS had a sensitivity of 87% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 62% to 96%), specificity of 94% (95% CI = 88% to 97%), positive likelihood ratio of 14.6 (95% CI = 6.5 to 32.5), and negative likelihood ratio of 0.14 (95% CI = 0.04 to 0.52) for ACS. The interobserver agreement (kappa) was 0.77. There were two missed cases of ACS on LUS. CONCLUSIONS: LUS may be sensitive and specific for diagnosis of ACS in pediatric patients with SCD and fever. LUS may reduce the need for routine CXR and associated ionizing radiation exposure in this population.

Prospective evaluation of point-of-care ultrasonography for the diagnosis of pneumonia in children and young adults.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of point-of-care ultrasonography for the diagnosis of pneumonia in children and young adults by a group of clinicians. DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING: Two urban emergency departments. PARTICIPANTS: Patients from birth to age 21 years undergoing chest radiography for suspected community-acquired pneumonia. INTERVENTION: After documenting clinical examination findings, clinicians with 1 hour of focused training used ultrasonography to diagnose pneumonia in children and young adults. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Test performance characteristics for the ability of ultrasonography to diagnose pneumonia were determined using chest radiography as a reference standard. Subgroup analysis was performed in patients having lung consolidation exceeding 1 cm with sonographic air bronchograms detected on ultrasonography; specificity and positive likelihood ratio (LR) were calculated to account for lung consolidation of 1 cm or less with sonographic air bronchograms undetectable by chest radiography. RESULTS: Two hundred patients were studied (median age, 3 years; interquartile range, 1-8 years); 56.0% were male, and the prevalence of pneumonia by chest radiography was 18.0%. Ultrasonography had an overall sensitivity of 86% (95% CI, 71%-94%), specificity of 89% (95% CI, 83%-93%), positive LR of 7.8 (95% CI, 5.0-12.4), and negative LR of 0.2 (95% CI, 0.1-0.4) for diagnosing pneumonia by visualizing lung consolidation with sonographic air bronchograms. In subgroup analysis of 187 patients having lung consolidation exceeding 1 cm, ultrasonography had a sensitivity of 86% (95% CI, 71%-94%), specificity of 97% (95% CI, 93%-99%), positive LR of 28.2 (95% CI, 11.8-67.6) and negative LR of 0.1 (95% CI, 0.1-0.3) for diagnosing pneumonia. CONCLUSION: Clinicians are able to diagnose pneumonia in children and young adults using point-of-care ultrasonography, with high specificity.

Prospective application of clinician-performed lung ultrasonography during the 2009 H1N1 influenza A pandemic: distinguishing viral from bacterial pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Emergency department visits quadrupled with the initial onset and surge during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic in New York City from April to June 2009. This time period was unique in that >90% of the circulating virus was surveyed to be the novel 2009 H1N1 influenza A according to the New York City Department of Health. We describe our experience using lung ultrasound in a case series of patients with respiratory symptoms requiring chest X-ray during the initial onset and surge of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. METHODS: We describe a case series of patients from a prospective observational cohort study of lung ultrasound, enrolling patients requiring chest X-ray for suspected pneumonia that coincided with the onset and surge of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. RESULTS: Twenty pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza patients requiring chest X-ray were enrolled during this time period. Median age was 6.7 years. Lung ultrasound via modified Bedside Lung Ultrasound in Emergency protocol assisted in the identification of viral pneumonia (n = 15; 75%), viral pneumonia with superimposed bacterial pneumonia (n = 7; 35%), isolated bacterial pneumonia only (n = 1; 5%), and no findings of viral or bacterial pneumonia (n = 4; 20%) in this cohort of patients. Based on 54 observations, interobserver agreement for distinguishing viral from bacterial pneumonia using lung ultrasound was ĸ = 0.82 (0.63 to 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Lung ultrasound may be used to distinguish viral from bacterial pneumonia. Lung ultrasound may be useful during epidemics or pandemics of acute respiratory illnesses for rapid point-of-care triage and management of patients.