Lung Ultrasound as A Diagnostic Tool for the Acutely Ill Patient

Abstract

       As for other imaging techniques, lung ultrasound signs are not specific for a diagnosis However, clinically driven lung ultrasound protocols with focused assessment allow, settings and clinical conditions, to rule in or out quickly and accurately several diagnoses.  As a monitoring tool, semi-quantitative assessment of lung aeration has   greatly developed in the last few years. A better bedside aeration assessment awaits improvement of the current scoring system with different definitions of moderate and severe loss of aeration and finer quantification of the nonaerated tissue within consolidations. One additional potential improvement is the detection of   overinflation, which is reasonably suggested by reduced sliding; however, lung sliding has never been objectively quantified and relies on “eyeball assessment” by expert examiners.