Ultrasound: Can it replace CT in the evaluation of pneumonia in pediatric age group?

Abstract

Aim of the study: To evaluate the ultrasound efficiency in the assessment of pneumonia in pediatric age group compared to CT as a trial for radiation exposure reduction. Materials and methods: 56 patients of pediatric age group were included (4 months to 10 years). They presented to ER with respiratory distress, and pneumonia was suspected clinically. Human ethics committee approval for this study was obtained from the institutional review board of the private center where these cases were done. Both ultrasound and CT were done for all patients by 2 different radiologists being blind to the results of the other examination to minimize the bias. Follow up US was done after adequate medical treatment (7–14 days) to detect its ability for following the patients up. Results: Ultrasound was able to detect efficiently different pulmonary pathological conditions as consolidation and pleural effusion. Compared to CT, ultrasound showed a sensitivity and specificity of 72.2% and 95% for pneumonia detection respectively with 96.3% PPV, 5% NPV, 3.7% FDR and 80.3% accuracy. Conclusion: Ultrasound could be considered as a good diagnostic and follow up tool when pneumonia especially in pediatric age group is suspected yet well trained radiologists and high resolution equipments are required. Keywords: Ultrasound, CT, Pneumonia, Pediatric