Learn the normal and pathological aspects of the pleura and pulmonary parechima. Learn the contribution that ultrasound can have in diagnosis and evaluation of mediastinal pathology.

For a long time now ultrasound has been known to be useful in diagnosing diseases of the plain organs (1). Even if the lung has been until recently left aside by ultrasound, it is becoming more and more clear that thoracic ultrasound can be a reliable technique in children. Thoracic ultrasound is a safe, fast, non-invasive, low-cost technique which can be easily used in pediatric care because it does not use ionising radiation. In many clinical situations the use of ultrasound can avoid the use...

For optimal images 5-10 MHz linear-array transducers are used in neonates and infants and for children and adolescents 2-4/ 4-7 MHzconvex or linear-array transducers may be required. The pacient is held in decubitus, supine or prone position. The approaches used for scanning of the lung, pleura and anterior mediastinum are transternal, parasternal and intercoastal whereas for lung apices and the upper mediastinum suprasternal and supraclavicular approaches are better. For juxtaphrenic paravertebral lesions, subxyphoid and transdiaphragmatic approaches are used with the liver as an acoustic window....

Even if for a long time thoracic ultrasound has been used to help localize pleural effusions and place chest tubes, over the past years it has tended to replace chest X-ray (15). In our experience thoracic ultrasound has proved to be useful in diagnosing not only pneumonia and pleural effusions in children, but a various range of diseases of the lung, pleura and mediastinum. Ultrasound is an easy bedside technique which allows close follow-up and most important in children, it avoids the use of ionising...

Weinberger SE, Drazen JM. Diagnostic procedures in respiratory diseases. In Harrison’s principles of internal medicine. 15th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2005; 1505-1508 Lichtenstein DA, Meziere GA. Relevance of Lung Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Acute Respiratory Failure: The Blue Protocol. In CHEST 2008; 134: 117-125 Lichtenstein DA. General ultrasound in the critically ill. 2005; Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York. Pp 96-133 Lichtenstein DA, Meziere G, Biderman P, Gepner A. The comet tail artifact, an ultrasound sign ruling out pneumothorax. Intensive Care Med 1999, 25:...