One-Year Follow-Up Lung Ultrasound of Post-COVID Syndrome-A Pilot Study.

(1) Background: Millions of people worldwide were infected with COVID-19. After the acute phase of the disease, many suffer from prolonged symptoms, the post-COVID syndrome, especially the phenotype with lung residuals. Many open questions regarding lung ultrasound (LUS) have to be answered.

Best Practice Recommendations for the Safe use of Lung Ultrasound.

The safety of ultrasound is of particular importance when examining the lungs, due to specific bioeffects occurring at the alveolar air-tissue interface. Lung is significantly more sensitive than solid tissue to mechanical stress. The causal biological effects due to the total reflection of sound waves have also not been investigated comprehensively.

[POCUS - Thoracic Sonography in Times of Corona: What Sonographing Family Physicians Should Examine].

POCUS - Thoracic Sonography in Times of Corona: What Sonographing Family Physicians Should Examine When performing chest sonography of patients with symptoms such as respiratory infection, dyspnea and chest pain, the primary goal is to find or exclude significant diagnoses such as pneumothorax, pleural effusion, pulmonary edema, tumors, pulmonary emboli, etc. as the cause of the symptoms. If infection with SARS-CoV-2 is present, COVID-19 pneumonia can be confirmed or excluded as the cause of the symptoms with a high degree of probability based on the sonographic signs.

[Strong Increase in Lung Ultrasound Due to COVID-19].

Strong Increase in Lung Ultrasound Due to COVID-19 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lung ultrasound is experiencing a tremendous upswing and rapid diffusion. This affects both publications and clinical use. The typical changes are described here, also for lung consolidations of other genesis and in interstitial lung diseases.

WFUMB position paper on reverberation artefacts in lung ultrasound: B-lines or comet-tails?

The analysis of vertical reverberation artefacts is an essential component of the differential diagnosis in pulmonary ultra-sound. Traditionally, they are often, but not exclusively, called B-line artefacts (BLA) and/or comet tail artefacts (CTA), but this view is misleading. In this position paper we clarify the terminology and relation of the two lung reverberation artefacts BLA and CTA to spe-cific clinical scenarios.

Point of care ultrasound for rapid assessment and treatment of palliative care patients in acute medical settings.

The combination of an ageing population with improving survival in malignant and non-malignant disease processes results in a growing cohort of patients with advanced or end-stage chronic diseases who require acute medical care. Emergency care has historically been stereotyped as the identification and treatment of acute life-threatening problems. Although palliative care may be considered to be new to the formal curriculum of emergency medicine, in many domains the ultrasound skillset of a physician in acute medical care can be efficaciously deployed the benefit of patients with both malignant and non-malignant disease processes that require palliative care in the full breadth of acute healthcare settings.

[Lung Ultrasound in Differential Diagnosis of Dyspnea].

Lung Ultrasound in Differential Diagnosis of Dyspnea Lung ultrasound offers an immediate diagnosis in accordance with the clinical examination in many causes of dyspnea: pleural effusion, pulmonary edema, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism and interstitial lung diseases. At first level exam, CXR, despite its intrinsic limitations and low accuracy, may still play a relevant role. CT scan remains the gold standard, but it requires patient transportation and use of radiation, which precludes an extensive use especially within the same patient.

New Perspectives for Modern Trauma Management - Lessons Learned from 25 Years FAST and 15 Years E-FAST.

E-FAST (Extended-Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma) is now a widely utilized and internationally recognized standard exam in trauma care. It is highly accepted by emergency physicians and trauma surgeons alike. Thanks to the popularity of PoCUS (point-of-care ultrasound), it has continued to evolve over the last years and can now improve trauma diagnosis at all stages of the primary ABCDE.

[Use of lung and pleural ultrasonography in emergency and intensive care medicine].

Bedside lung ultrasound (LUS) in emergency rooms and intensive care units can serve as a tool to diagnose common lung pathologies, monitor their course and guide clinical management. LUS requires only a few minutes and is a useful extension of the physical examination. Fractures of the ribs as well as the sternum are seen well on ultrasound.

[Pneumonia: Does Ultrasound Replace Chest X-Ray?].

Pneumonia: Does Ultrasound Replace Chest X-Ray? Abstract. Pneumonic lung consolidations are characterized by typical changes in terms of sonomorphology: echopoor lesions with blurred margins, bronchoaerograms, regular vascularization, and parapneumonic effusions. Pneumonias may be first discovered at bedside.

[Ultrasound in palliative care medicine, Part II].

Complementary to part 1, this review summarizes indications, opportunities and applications of ultrasounds in palliative care medicine. In particular, the following topics are discussed: · Ultrasound as a non-invasive, low-threshold, bedside technique, which uniquely combines diagnostic efficacy and empathy..

Lung artefacts and their use.

The science of lung ultrasound has grown tremendously over the last two decades and lung ultrasound has not only entered the mainstream of point of care ultrasound but has become a dominant topic. Understanding lung ultrasound signs and artifacts is critical to being able to correlate findings with actual pathology and normal anatomy and physiology. Investigators have described multiple lung ultrasound artifacts and findings and it is important to understand both the physics and anatomic basis behind them.

Lung B-line artefacts and their use.

Background: The analysis of lung artefacts has gained increasing importance as markers of lung pathology. B-line artefact (BLA), caused by a reverberation phenomenon, is the most important lung artefact. In this review, we discuss the current role of BLA in pneumology and explore open questions of the published consensus.

[Ultrasound in thromboembolism].

Imaging of pulmonary embolism (PTE) remains a great challange. Mortatity is even high. Possibilities of lung ultrasound, echocardiography, and compression leg vein sonography are discussed.

Ultrasound of the pleurae and lungs.

The value of ultrasound techniques in examination of the pleurae and lungs has been underestimated over recent decades. One explanation for this is the assumption that the ventilated lungs and the bones of the rib cage constitute impermeable obstacles to ultrasound. However, a variety of pathologies of the chest wall, pleurae and lungs result in altered tissue composition, providing substantially increased access and visibility for ultrasound examination.

Emergency ultrasound of the chest.

Thoracic ultrasound is a noninvasive and portable diagnostic tool which is highly indicated for an initial workup of thoracic emergencies. The suspicion of a pneumothorax, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism or a lung contusion after trauma can be quickly assessed using ultrasound. Main advantages are its good availability and the steep learning curve.

Lung ultrasound in the diagnosis and follow-up of community-acquired pneumonia: a prospective, multicenter, diagnostic accuracy study.

Background: The aim of this prospective, multicenter study was to define the accuracy of lung ultrasound (LUS) in the diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Methods: Three hundred sixty-two patients with suspected CAP were enrolled in 14 European centers. At baseline, history, clinical examination, laboratory testing, and LUS were performed as well as the reference test, which was a radiograph in two planes or a low-dose CT scan in case of inconclusive or negative radiographic but positive LUS findings.

International evidence-based recommendations for point-of-care lung ultrasound.

Background: The purpose of this study is to provide evidence-based and expert consensus recommendations for lung ultrasound with focus on emergency and critical care settings.

Methods: A multidisciplinary panel of 28 experts from eight countries was involved. Literature was reviewed from January 1966 to June 2011.