Diagnostic value of whole-body-focused ultrasonography in high-acuity patients in the emergency department: a prospective single-center cross-sectional study

The Ultrasound Journal

Table 5 Diagnostic accuracy of investigators pathology found with focused ultrasonography compared to gold standard

Diagnoses	Gold standard positive/f-us positive	Sensitivity % (95% CI)	Specificity % (95% CI)	PPV % (95% CI)	NPV % (95% CI)
Heart (Fcu): N = 160
Pericardial effusion, n = 144	2/10	100 (16–100)	94 (89–8)	26 (3–56)	100 (97–100)
Systolic heart failure (EF < 45%), n = 144	4/19	50 (7–93)	88 (81–93)	11 (1–33)	98 (94–100)
Lungs (Flus): N = 160
Pneumothorax^a, n = 155	0/0
Pleural effusion, n = 157	19/39	89 (67–99)	84 (77–90)	44 (28–60)	98 (94–100)
Pulmonary edema, n = 158	6/25	50 (12–88)	86 (79–91)	12 (3–31)	98 (94–100)
Interstitial lung disease, n = 158	3/25	100 (29–100)	86 (79–91)	12 (3–31)	100 (97–100)
Abdomen (Faus): N = 148
Abdominal aorta aneurism/dissection^b, n = 130	0/1
Free fluid abdomen^c, n = 145	1/4	100 (CI 3–100)	98 (CI 94–100)	25 (CI 1–81)	100 (CI 97–100)
Veins (Lcu): N = 128
Deep-vein thrombosis, n = 128^a	0/0

Gold standard: final diagnoses of blinded medical record audit
Statistical analyses are made using the statistical concept ‘per protocol’: cases of no ultrasonography clips are left out
Number of patients with an ultrasonography examination sufficient for diagnostic evaluation for each protocol (N) and for each pathology (n)
F-us focused ultrasonography, Fcu focused cardiac ultrasonography, Flus focused lung ultrasonography, Faus focused abdominal ultrasonography, Lcu limited compression ultrasonography
^aDue to a low number of events the sensitivity and specificity could not be calculated
^bSigns of aorta aneurism or dissection are defined as a deviation from the normal diameter (women < 2.9 cm, men < 3.2 cm) of the abdominal aorta
^cFree fluid abdomen’ is assessed from the 3 views of the abdominal f-us. If any region of the abdominal f-us showed any sign of free fluid the FAUS was regarded as pathological