Possible Role of Chest Ultrasound in the Assessment of Costo-Phrenic Angle Lesions Prior to Medical Thoracoscopy: A Retrospective Pilot Case Series.

Background: Pleural malignancy (PM) and malignant pleural effusion (MPE) represent an increasing burden of diseases. Costo-phrenic angle (CPA) could be involved by malignant small nodularities or thickenings in the case of MPE. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether lung ultrasound (LUS), performed prior to medical thoracoscopy (MT), could detect pleural abnormalities in CPA not easily detectable by chest computed tomography scan (CCT).

Air bronchogram integrated lung ultrasound score to monitor community-acquired pneumonia in a pilot pediatric population.

Aims: Chest ultrasound is a non-invasive method for evaluating children with suspected community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We evaluated the prognostic role of change of ultrasonographic (US) air bronchogram in management of CAP in terms of: rate of complicated CAP, change of empiric antibiotic therapy, relationship to defervescence time, and length of hospitalization.

Methods: Patients with CAP and radiographic evidence of lung consolidation were prospectively enrolled.

Does transbronchial lung cryobiopsy give useful information in asthmatic patients?

Introduction: Lung biopsy in asthmatic patients is justified in case of atypical presentations of asthma, when other differential diagnoses, such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis or eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, could be possible or for research purposes.

Aim: We aim to describe the utility and the safety of TBLC (transbronchial lung cryobiopsy) in asthmatic patients, providing data on the pathological changes occurring in the airways and in the lung parenchyma.

Methods: We reviewed asthmatic patients that underwent TBLC, that eventually had only a final diagnosis of asthma.