A New Modality for the Diagnosis of Bleomycin-induced Toxicity: Ultrasonography / Nuevo método diagnóstico para la toxicidad inducida por bleomicina: la ecografía

RESUMEN

Objective: To evaluate the role of ultrasonography (USG) in the diagnosis of bleomycin-induced pulmonary toxicity (BT). Material and methods: The study included patients with suspected BT during treatment with bleomycin due to various oncologic diseases between June 2015 and May 2017. The patients initially underwent clinical and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) examinations and pulmonary function tests (PFT)-diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO), followed by registration of USG findings-number of comet tail artifact (CTA) images by a different pulmonologist. We compared the findings from USG, HRCT, and PFT-DLCO tests between BT and non-BT groups. With the diagnosis based on clinical-radiologic and PFT-DLCO assessments taken as the gold standard, we determined the sensitivity and specificity of the USG outcomes for diagnosis of BT. Results: The study included a total of 30 patients. Nine patients were diagnosed as having BT according to their clinical and radiologic findings and PFT-DLCO measurements. The mean number of CTA images was 68.7 ± 22 in patients with BT vs 28.2 ± 9.3 in those without BT (P < .001). The difference in CTA images between the patients with and without ground glass density was statistically significant (28.3 ± 9.5 and 64.6 ± 24.5, respectively, P < .001). In patients with BT, there was a negative correlation between the number of CTAs and DLCO% and FVC% values (P = .004; P = .016). USG had a sensitivity of 100%, and a specificity of 95% diagnosing BT in selected patients. Conclusion: In bleomycin-induced toxicity, USG findings are correlated with HRCT and PFT-DLCO findings, with a remarkably increased number of CTAs in BT. Thoracic USG examination is a diagnostic tool with a high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing BT