Journal of Clinical Medicine (Jul 2022)
Prognostic Role of Lung Ultrasound in Children with Bronchiolitis: Multicentric Prospective Study
Abstract
There is increasing recognition of the role of lung ultrasound (LUS) to assess bronchiolitis severity in children. However, available studies are limited to small, single-center cohorts. We aimed to assess a qualitative and quantitative LUS protocol to evaluate the course of bronchiolitis at diagnosis and during follow-up. This is a prospective, multicenter study. Children with bronchiolitis were stratified according to clinical severity and underwent four LUS evaluations at set intervals. LUS was classified according to four models: (1) positive/negative; (2) main LUS pattern (normal/interstitial/consolidative/mixed) (3) LUS score; (4) LUS score with cutoff. Two hundred and thirty-three children were enrolled. The baseline LUS was significantly associated with bronchiolitis severity, using both the qualitative (positive/negative LUS p p 9 p p p 9 points. Conclusions: Our study supports the role of a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative LUS protocol for the identification of severe cases of bronchiolitis and provides data on the evolution of lung aeration during follow-up.
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