Ultrasound Journal最新文献

Background: Infective endocarditis carries a high morbidity and mortality; therefore, a rapid diagnosis and timely treatment is crucial to improve outcomes. Diagnosis of infective endocarditis is supported on echocardiogram findings.

Case presentation: An adult male with history of long-term hemodialysis, presented with embolic manifestations (cerebral, skin) and fever. A large vegetation in the mitral valve and other in the tricuspid valve were detected by point-of-care transthoracic echocardiogram, while blood cultures subsequently resulted positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Despite therapeutic efforts, the patient developed into an irreversible shock and died.

Conclusions: Point-of-care echocardiogram has a pivotal role in diagnosis and decision-making of infective endocarditis.

Background: Pediatric emergency department (ED) visits for superficial skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) have steadily been increasing and point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) continues to be an effective modality to improve management and shorter ED length of stays (LOS).

Objective: We sought to determine the impact of a soft tissue POCUS curriculum on POCUS utilization, ED LOS, and cost-effectiveness.

Methods: This was a retrospective pre- and post-interventional study of pediatric patients aged 0 to 17 years. Patients presenting to ED with international classification of disease 9 or 10 code for abscess or cellulitis were included. Data were collected a year before and after curriculum implementation with a 1-year washout training period. Training included continuing medical education, greater than 25 quality assured examinations, and a post-test. We compared diagnostic imaging type, ED LOS, and mean charges in patients with SSTI.

Results: We analyzed data on 119 total patients, 38 pre- and 81 post-intervention. We found a significant increase in the total number of POCUS examinations performed pre- to post-curriculum intervention, 26 vs. 59 (p = 0.0017). Mean total charges were significantly decreased from $3,762 (± 270) to $2,622 (± 158; p = 0.0009). There was a significant trend towards a decrease in average ED LOS 282 (standard error of mean [SEM] ± 19) vs 185 (± 13) minutes (p = 0.0001).

Conclusions: Implementation of a soft tissue POCUS curriculum in a pediatric ED was associated with increased POCUS use, decreased LOS, and lower cost. These findings highlight the importance of POCUS education and implementation in the management of pediatric SSTI.

Background: Limited studies have evaluated the use of ultrasound for detection of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) using diagnostic ultrasound Transcranial Doppler machines in adults. The feasibility of ICH detection using Point of care Ultrasound (POCUS) machines has not been explored. We evaluated the feasibility of using cranial POCUS B mode imaging performed using intensive care unit (ICU) POCUS device for ICH detection with a secondary goal of mapping optimal imaging technique and brain topography likely to affect sensitivity and specificity of ICH detection with POCUS.

Materials and methods: After obtaining IRB approval, a blinded investigator performed cranial ultrasound (Fujifilm, Sonosite^® Xporte, transcranial and abdominal presets) through temporal windows on 11 patients with intracerebral pathology within 72 h of last CT/MRI (computed tomography scan/magnetic resonance imaging) brain after being admitted to a neurocritical care unit in Aug 2020 and Nov 2020-Mar 2021. Images were then compared to patient's CT/MRI to inform topography. Inferential statistics were reported.

Results: Mean age was 57 (28-77 years) and 6/11 were female. Six patients were diagnosed with ICH, 3 with ischemic stroke, 1 subarachnoid hemorrhage, and 1 brain tumor. The sensitivity and specificity of point of care diagnosis of ICH compared to CT/MRI brain was 100% and 50%, respectively. Mean time between ultrasound scan and CT/MRI was 13.3 h (21 min-39 h). Falx cerebri, choroid calcification and midbrain-related artifacts were the most reproducible hyperechoic signals. Abdominal preset on high gain yielded less artifact than Transcranial Doppler preset for cranial B mode imaging. False positive ICH diagnosis was attributed to intracerebral tumor and midbrain-related artifact.

Conclusions: Our exploratory analysis yielded preliminary data on use of point of care cranial ultrasound for ICH diagnosis to inform imaging techniques, cranial topography on B mode and sample size estimation for future studies to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of cranial POCUS in adult patients. This pilot study is limited by small sample size and over representation of ICH in the study. Cranial POCUS is feasible using POCUS machines and may have potential as a screening tool if validated in adequately powered studies.

Background: Medullary sponge kidney is generally considered a benign condition, gold standard for the diagnosis is urography but it has almost been replaced by UroCT that did not present the same sensibility. Although it is really rare, our sonography's findings were consistent with medullary sponge kidney in the transplanted kidneys.

Case presentation: A 45-year-old woman with a long history of double-kidney transplantation complained of frequent urinary tract infections, a history of vague loin pain and came to our attention for sonography follow-up. Her kidney function was normal, we did not find signs of infections in the transplanted kidneys and urinary findings were normal. Curiously, the transplanted kidneys came from a newborn and the patient received a double-kidney transplantation in order to guarantee a satisfactory renal function.

Conclusions: Despite a long history of kidney transplantation, genetic disease should not be forgotten when symptoms and images recall to specific inherited alterations. Sonography has to be considered in diagnostic path of kidney cystic disease.

Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a growing part of internal medicine training programs. Dedicated POCUS rotations are emerging as a particularly effective tool in POCUS training, allowing for longitudinal learning and emphasizing both psychomotor skills and the nuances of clinical integration. In this descriptive paper, we set out to review the state of POCUS rotations in Canadian Internal Medicine training programs.

Results: We identify five programs currently offering a POCUS rotation. These rotations are offered over two to thirteen blocks each year, run over one to four weeks and support one to four learners. Across all programs, these rotations are set up as a consultative service that offers POCUS consultation to general internal medicine inpatients, with some extension of scope to the hospitalist service or surgical subspecialties. The funding model for the preceptors of these rotations is predominantly fee-for-service using consultation codes, in addition to concomitant clinical work to supplement income. All but one program has access to hospital-based archiving of POCUS exams. Preceptors dedicate ten to fifty hours to the rotation each week and ensure that all trainee exams are reviewed and documented in the patient's medical records in the form of a consultation note. Two of the five programs also support a POCUS fellowship. Only two out of five programs have established learner policies. All programs rely on In-Training Evaluation Reports to provide trainee feedback on their performance during the rotation.

Conclusions: We describe the different elements of the POCUS rotations currently offered in Canadian Internal Medicine training programs. We share some lessons learned around the elements necessary for a sustainable rotation that meets high educational standards. We also identify areas for future growth, which include the expansion of learner policies, as well as the evolution of trainee assessment in the era of competency-based medical education. Our results will help educators that are endeavoring setting up POCUS rotations achieve success.

Echocardiography has gained wide acceptance among intensive care physicians during the last 15 years. The lack of accredited formation, the long learning curve required and the excessive structural orientation of the present algorithms to evaluate hemodynamically unstable patients hampers its daily use in the intensive care unit. The aim of this article is to show 4 cases where the use of our simple algorithm based on VTI, was crucial. Subsequently, to explain the benefit of using the proposed algorithm with a more functional perspective, as a means for clinical decision-making. A simple algorithm based on left ventricle outflow tract velocity-time integral measurement for a functional hemodynamic monitoring on patients suffering hemodynamic shock or instability is proposed by Spanish Critical Care Ultrasound Network Group. This algorithm considers perfusion and congestion variables. Its simplicity might be useful for guiding physicians in their daily decision-making managing critically ill patients in hemodynamic shock.

Background: Lung ultrasound (LUS) has a role in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) mainly based on the visualization of pulmonary infarctions. However, examining the whole chest to detect small peripheral infarctions by LUS may be challenging. Pleuritic pain, a frequent presenting symptom in patients with PE, is usually localized in a restricted chest area identified by the patient itself. Our hypothesis is that sensitivity of LUS for PE in patients with pleuritic chest pain may be higher due to the possibility of focusing the examination in the painful area. We combined data from three prospective studies on LUS in patients suspected of PE and extracted data regarding patients with and without pleuritic pain at presentation to compare the performances of LUS.

Results: Out of 872 patients suspected of PE, 217 (24.9%) presented with pleuritic pain and 279 patients (32%) were diagnosed with PE. Pooled sensitivity of LUS for PE in patients with and without pleuritic chest pain was 81.5% (95% CI 70-90.1%) and 49.5% (95% CI 42.7-56.4%) (p < 0.001), respectively. Specificity of LUS was similar in the two groups, respectively 95.4% (95% CI 90.7-98.1%) and 94.8% (95% CI 92.3-97.7%) (p = 0.86). In patients with pleuritic pain, a diagnostic strategy combining Wells score with LUS performed better both in terms of sensitivity (93%, 95% CI 80.9-98.5% vs 90.7%, 95% CI 77.9-97.4%) and negative predictive value (96.2%, 95% CI 89.6-98.7% vs 93.3%, 95% CI 84.4-97.3%). Efficiency of Wells score + LUS outperformed the conventional strategy based on Wells score + d-dimer (56.7%, 95% CI 48.5-65% vs 42.5%, 95% CI 34.3-51.2%, p = 0.02).

Conclusions: In a population of patients suspected of PE, LUS showed better sensitivity for the diagnosis of PE when applied to the subgroup with pleuritic chest pain. In these patients, a diagnostic strategy based on Wells score and LUS performed better to exclude PE than the conventional strategy combining Wells score and d-dimer.

Background: Neuraxial anesthesia in obese parturients can be challenging due to anatomical and physiological modifications secondary to pregnancy; this led to growing popularity of spine ultrasound in this population for easing landmark identification and procedure execution. Integration of Artificial Intelligence with ultrasound (AI-US) for image enhancement and analysis has increased clinicians' ability to localize vertebral structures in patients with challenging anatomical conformation.

Case presentation: We present the case of a parturient with extremely severe obesity, with a Body Mass Index (BMI) = 64.5 kg/m², in which the AI-Enabled Image Recognition allowed a successful placing of an epidural catheter.

Conclusions: Benefits gained from AI-US implementation are multiple: immediate recognition of anatomical structures leads to increased first-attempt success rate, making easier the process of spinal anesthesia execution compared to traditional palpation methods, reducing needle placement time for spinal anesthesia and predicting best needle direction and target structure depth in peridural anesthesia.

Background: Pain after thoracic surgery impairs lung function and increases the rate of postoperative pulmonary complications. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous cryoanalgesia of intercostal nerves constitutes a valid option for adequate postoperative analgesia. A key issue for a successful cryoanalgesia is placing the cryoprobe tip close to the intercostal nerve. This report describes an ultrasound technique using a high-resolution ultrasound probe to accomplish this goal.

Findings: Images of five anesthetized patients undergoing uniportal video-thoracoscopic surgeries are used as clinical examples. In the lateral position, a high-frequency 12 MHz probe is placed longitudinally at 5-7 cm parallel to the spine at the 4th, 5th, and 6th ipsilateral intercostal spaces. Ultrasound images detect the intercostal neurovascular bundle and a 14G angiocath is placed beside the nerve. The cryoprobe is inserted throughout the 14G catheter and the cryoanalgesia cycle is performed for 3 min. Two ultrasound signs confirm the right cryoprobe position close to the nerve: one is a color Doppler twinkling artifact that is seen as the quick shift of colors that delineates the cryoprobe contour. The other is a spherical hypoechoic image caused by the ice ball formed at the cryoprobe tip.

Conclusions: Ultrasound images obtained with a high-frequency probe allow precise location of the cryoprobe tip close to the intercostal nerve for cold axonotmesis.