Pleuropulmonary Ultrasound in Pediatrics: Proposal of a Reporting Model From the Academy of Thoracic Ultrasound.

With the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, pleuropulmonary ultrasound has become a very common tool in clinical practice, even in the pediatric field. Therefore, the clinicians' need to speak a common ultrasound language becomes increasingly necessary. The Italian scientific society AdET (Academy of Thoracic Ultrasound) has been carrying out the study and dissemination of pulmonary ultrasound in medical practice in Italy for years. With this article, the pediatric AdET group wants to propose a report model of pediatric pulmonary ultrasound as a useful tool in daily clinical practice to interpret the images and reach a diagnostic conclusion, aiming to share a standardized approach that may also support the sharing of research findings.

Prognostic Role of Lung Ultrasound in Children with Bronchiolitis: Multicentric Prospective Study.

There is increasing recognition of the role of lung ultrasound (LUS) to assess bronchiolitis severity in children. However, available studies are limited to small, single-center cohorts. We aimed to assess a qualitative and quantitative LUS protocol to evaluate the course of bronchiolitis at diagnosis and during follow-up. This is a prospective, multicenter study. Children with bronchiolitis were stratified according to clinical severity and underwent four LUS evaluations at set intervals. LUS was classified according to four models: (1) positive/negative; (2) main LUS pattern (normal/interstitial/consolidative/mixed) (3) LUS score; (4) LUS score with cutoff. Two hundred and thirty-three children were enrolled. The baseline LUS was significantly associated with bronchiolitis severity, using both the qualitative (positive/negative LUS p < 0.001; consolidated/normal LUS pattern or mixed/normal LUS p < 0.001) and quantitative models (cutoff score > 9 p < 0.001; LUS mean score p < 0.001). During follow-up, all LUS results according to all LUS models improved (p < 0.001). Better cut off value was declared at a value of >9 points. Conclusions: Our study supports the role of a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative LUS protocol for the identification of severe cases of bronchiolitis and provides data on the evolution of lung aeration during follow-up.