Alessandro Lamorte

Accuracy of Point-of-Care Multiorgan Ultrasonography for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism

BACKGROUND Presenting signs and symptoms of pulmonary embolism (PE) are nonspecific, favoring a large use of second-line diagnostic tests such as multidetector CT pulmonary angiography (MCTPA), thus exposing patients to high-dose radiation and to potential serious complications. We investigated the diagnostic performance of multiorgan ultrasonography (lung, heart, and leg vein ultrasonography) and whether multiorgan ultrasonography combined to Wells score and D-dimer could safely reduce MCTPA tests. METHODS Consecutive adult patients suspected of PE and with a Wells score > 4 or a positive D-dimer result were prospectively enrolled in three EDs. Final diagnosis was obtained with MCTPA. Multiorgan ultrasonography was performed before MCTPA and considered diagnostic for PE if one or more subpleural infarcts, right ventricular dilatation, or DVT was detected. If multiorgan ultrasonography was negative for PE, an alternative ultrasonography diagnosis was sought. Accuracies of each single-organ and multiorgan ultrasonography were calculated. RESULTS PE was diagnosed in 110 of 357 enrolled patients (30.8%). Multiorgan ultrasonography yielded a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 86.2%, lung ultrasonography 60.9% and 95.9%, heart ultrasonography 32.7% and 90.9%, and vein ultrasonography 52.7% and 97.6%, respectively. Among the 132 patients (37%) with multiorgan ultrasonography negative for PE plus an alternative ultrasonographic diagnosis or plus a negative D-dimer result, no patients received PE as a final diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS Multiorgan ultrasonography is more sensitive than single-organ ultrasonography, increases the accuracy of clinical pretest probability estimation in patients with suspected PE, and may safely reduce the MCTPA burden. TRIAL REGISTRY ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT01635257; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Lung ultrasound in diagnosing and monitoring pulmonary interstitial fluid

Chronic heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome often characterised by recurrent episodes of acute decompensation. This is acknowledged as a major public health problem, leading to a steadily increasing number of hospitalisations in developed countries. In decompensated heart failure, the redistribution of fluids into the pulmonary vascular bed leads to respiratory failure, a common cause of presentation to the emergency department. The ability to diagnose, quantify and monitor pulmonary congestion is particularly important in managing the disease. Lung ultrasound (US) is a relatively new method that has gained a growing acceptance as a bedside diagnostic tool to assess pulmonary interstitial fluid and alveolar oedema. The latest developments in lung US are not because of technological advance but are based on new applications and discovering the meanings of specific sonographic artefacts designated as B-lines. Real-time sonography of the lung targeted to detection of B-lines allows bedside diagnosis of respiratory failure due to impairment of cardiac function, as well as quantification and monitoring of pulmonary interstitial fluid. Lung US saves time and cost, provides immediate information to the clinician and relies on very easy-toacquire and highly reproducible data.RiassuntoL’insufficienza cardiaca cronica è una complessa sindrome clinica caratterizzata spesso da episodi ricorrenti di scompenso acuto. Tale condizione rappresenta uno dei maggiori problemi di salute pubblica, che porta ad un numero sempre crescente di ospedalizzazione nei paesi più sviluppati. Nella insufficienza cardiaca scompensata, la redistribuzione dei fluidi nel letto vascolare polmonare comporta l’insufficienza respiratoria, una causa comune di presentazione nel Dipartimento di Emergenza. La capacità di diagnosticare, quantificare e monitorare la congestione polmonare è di particolare importanza nel trattamento di questa malattia. L’ecografia polmonare è un metodo relativamente nuovo, oramai sempre più diffusamente riconosciuto come mezzo diagnostico utile per la valutazione dell’edema interstiziale ed alveolare al letto del paziente. Il recente sviluppo dell’ecografia polmonare non è legato allo sviluppo tecnologico, ma è basato sulle nuove applicazioni e sulla scoperta del significato di specifici artefatti ecografici chiamati linee B. L’ecografia polmonare mirata alla identificazione delle linee B permette la diagnosi al letto del paziente in tempo reale dell’insufficienza respiratoria dovuta a scompenso cardiaco, cosÌ come la quantificazione ed il monitoraggio della congestione polmonare. La tecnica ecografica polmonare riduce i tempi ed i costi diagnostici, e si basa su segni semplici da identificare ed altamente riproducibili che forniscono immediate informazioni nella gestione del paziente.

Revisiting signs, strengths and weaknesses of Standard Chest Radiography in patients of Acute Dyspnea in the Emergency Department

Dyspnoea, defined as an uncomfortable awareness of breathing, together with thoracic pain are two of the most frequent symptoms of presentation of thoracic diseases in the Emergency Department (ED). Causes of dyspnoea are various and involve not only cardiovascular and respiratory systems. In the emergency setting, thoracic imaging by standard chest X-ray (CXR) plays a crucial role in the diagnostic process, because it is of fast execution and relatively not expensive. Although radiologists are responsible for the final reading of chest radiographs, very often the clinicians, and in particular the emergency physicians, are alone in the emergency room facing this task. In literature many studies have demonstrated how important and essential is an accurate direct interpretation by the clinician without the need of an immediate reading by the radiologist. Moreover, the sensitivity of CXR is much impaired when the study is performed at bedside by portable machines, particularly in the diagnosis of some important causes of acute dyspnoea, such as pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax, and pulmonary edema. In these cases, a high inter-observer variability of bedside CXR reading limits the diagnostic usefulness of the methodology and complicates the differential diagnosis. The aim of this review is to analyze the radiologic signs and the correct use of CXR in the most important conditions that cause cardiac and pulmonary dyspnoea, as acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute pulmonary oedema, acute pulmonary trombo-embolism, pneumothorax and pleural effusion, and to focus indications and limitations of this diagnostic tool.

Young Man With Left Thoracic Pain

A 19-year-old man presented to the emergency department, complaining of left thoracic pain and dyspnea on exertion for 2 days. He had a history of 3 recurrences of primary spontaneous left pneumothoraces. The third recurrence was treated by abrasion pleurodesis 7 months before. Bedside lung ultrasonography in the supine position showed an unusual pattern in the anterior left chest: absent lung sliding but alternating small areas without sonographic B lines and small areas with B lines and sonographic lung pulse (Figure 1; Video 1). A “lung point” was detected by ultrasonography at the lateral chest seventh intercostal space (Figure 2; Video 2). Figure 1. Lung ultrasonography of the anterior chest, showing alternation of B lines and lung pulse (white stars) with areas of motionless lung (white double-headed arrow). The lung pulse, which is a vertical movement of the lung synchronous with heartbeats, is not evident on a still image (but can be seen on Video 1). B lines are vertical echogenic artifacts that may or may not be evident in normal lung. Lung pulse and B lines are strongly predictive of the absence of a pneumothorax. Figure 2. Lung ultrasonography of the lateral chest, showing alternation between lung sliding (no-PNX side) and absence of lung sliding (PNX side). This is the lung point. Lung sliding, which is indicative of the absence of a pneumothorax, is the horizontal movement of the lung synchronous with respiration and not evident on a still image (but can be seen on Video 2). The alternation of sliding and nonsliding patterns is highly predictive of pneumothorax and indicates the point on the chest at which the visceral and parietal pleura are touching again, ie, the edge of the pneumothorax. White arrow pleural interface. PNX, Pneumothorax.