Point-of-care ultrasound outperforms auscultation by stethoscope in detecting pneumonia in children and young adults, according to research published online December 10 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
A research team led by senior author Dr. James Tsung from Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that point-of-care ultrasound produced specificity of 97% and sensitivity as high as 92% with training and experience, compared with a specificity range of 77% to 83% and sensitivity of 24% for the stethoscope. In 12 of 48 patients with confirmed pneumonia, ultrasound was even able to identify pneumonia too small (less than 1 cm) for chest x-ray to detect.
Tsung and co-authors from Children's Hospital at Montefiore and Bellevue Hospital Center/NYU School of Medicine studied 200 patients from birth to 21 years old who presented with suspected community-acquired pneumonia at Bellevue Hospital Center between 2008 and 2010.
Patients requiring a chest x-ray were included in the study. Sonologists were given one hour of focused training prior to the start of the study on the use of ultrasound to diagnose pneumonia.
