Background: Due to its radiation-free feature, comfort, high accuracy, and cheap cost, lung ultrasonography (LUS)
has been used in clinical practice to diagnose and discriminate infant lung disorders; nevertheless, its usage in
neonatal care is still restricted.
Objective: To assess the role of point of care LUS in diagnosis of different neonatal lung diseases compared to chest
X-ray (CXR).
Patients and Methods: This is a prospective study on 115 neonates (preterm and full-term) with newborn lung
disorders of various etiologies; those with substantial congenital abnormalities, such as chest deformities, complicated
congenital heart diseases, and central respiratory failure were excluded. On admission, CXR and LUS were performed
for diagnosis. They were then repeated after 3 days and after 7 days, or sooner or later, if necessary, based on the
clinical status.
Results: LUS diagnosis sensitivity (Sn) and specificity (Sp) for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), transient
tachypnea of the newborn (TTN), pneumonia, meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS), pneumothorax (PTX),
pulmonary atelectasis and pulmonary edema were 95.7/98.5%, 100/100% 97.1/98.8, 100/100%, 94.1%/98.9%,
100/100%, 100/100%, respectively. With a 95% CI of 0.91 to 1, the overall agreement between LUS and CXR was
98.3%. The diagnosis of NLDS was mostly in accord with LUS and CXR.
Conclusion: LUS may be used as a substitute for other methods of diagnosing newborn lung illnesses since it is an
imaging modality that is accurate, dependable, rapid, simple to use, real-time, and radiation-free.
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