Learning objectives
Aim of this work is to present the ultrasound signs of the normal chest wall,
pleura and lung.
Moreover,
we want to illustrate the ultrasound patterns and artifacts related to pleural and pulmonary conditions,
and to compare them with chest radiography and computed tomography images.
Background
Thorax has always been considered a major hindrance to the diffusion of the ultrasound beam,
due to the air content of the lung and the bone of the thoracic cage.
These limitations prevented for many years the widespread use of ultrasound for diagnosing respiratory diseases,
while conventional radiology and multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) are currently the most used imaging techniques.
In recent years,
the use of ultrasound as a diagnostic tool in the emergency setting has become increasingly popular.
In the critically ill the physical...
Imaging findings OR Procedure details
Normally,
ultrasounds are not transmitted through the aerated lung.
When US beam impacts the surface of aerated lung,
the most of it is reflected; as a result,
a hyperechoic band-like image is generated,
called “pleural line”.
Pleural line is characterized by a dynamic sign,
the lung sliding,
and some artifacts (A lines,
B lines etc),
that resulted to be very helpfulf in the diagnosis of some pathologies,
such as diffuse lung diseases and pneumothorax (Fig.
1).
For this reason,
US study of the lung is...
Conclusion
The correlation between US,
CT and chest X-ray images allows to compare the sensitivity of these methods on several chest wall,
pleural and lung conditions.
The presence of specific sonographic signs very often can be considered decisive in the emergency diagnostic process at bedside,
especially in case of pneumothorax,
pulmonary edema and lung interstitial diseases.
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