Articles

Point-of-care ultrasound for evaluating intra-abdominal calcification in the pediatric emergency department: case series and review of literature

The presence of intra-abdominal calcification in the pediatric population can be due to a wide range of conditions. Calcification in the abdomen can be seen in normal or abnormal anatomical structures. In some...

Authors: Vigil James, John Samuel, Chor Yek Kee and Gene Yong-Kwang Ong

Point-of-care lung ultrasound imaging in pediatric COVID-19

There has been limited data regarding the usefulness of lung ultrasound (US) in children with COVID-19.

Authors: Eliana P. C. Giorno, Milena De Paulis, Yoshino T. Sameshima, Kirstin Weerdenburg, Paulo Savoia, Danilo Y. Nanbu, Thomaz B. Couto, Fernanda V. M. Sa, Sylvia C. L. Farhat, Werther B. Carvalho, Marcela Preto-Zamperlini and Claudio Schvartsman

Feasibility of using a handheld ultrasound device to detect and characterize shunt and deep vein thrombosis in patients with COVID-19: an observational study

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes an atypical acute respiratory distress syndrome associated with thromboembolism and high shunt fraction. Shunt may be intrapulmonary, or extrapulmonary. Handheld devi...

Authors: Rajkumar Rajendram, Arif Hussain, Naveed Mahmood and Mubashar Kharal

Systematic Sonography Looking for Occult Wounds: accuracy of an abdominal ultrasound adjunct in penetrating trauma

Systematic Sonography Looking for Occult Wounds (SSLOW) in trauma is a novel technique for the evaluation of intra-abdominal wounds in penetrating trauma. No data exist regarding the effectiveness. The objecti...

Authors: Sri Devi Jagjit, Jordan Rupp, Robinson M. Ferre, Mary Kate Jordan and Brian Bales

Optic nerve sheath diameter sonography during the acute stage of intracerebral hemorrhage: a potential role in monitoring neurocritical patients

Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) sonography has been proposed as a reliable bedside tool for the detection of increased intracranial pressure (ICP). ONSD reacts almost simultaneously to oscillations in ICP. ...

Authors: M. Bender, S. Lakicevic, N. Pravdic, S. Schreiber and B. Malojcic

Screening for aneurysms of the abdominal aorta using a simple screening device

Several countries advocate screening for aneurysms of the abdominal aorta (AAA) in selected patients. In the Netherlands, routine screening is currently under review by the National Health Council. In any scre...

Authors: J. W. Brakel, T. A. Berendsen, P. M. C. Callenbach, J. van der Burgh, R. J. Hissink and M. van den Berg

Abstracts from the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Ultrasound Society

Authors:

Emergency department-based 3D echocardiogram use: a case series

Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) with real-time volumetric imaging can be a vital modality in clinical practice. Despite its potential, it remains underutilized in the acute care setting.

Authors: Sajith Matthews and Phillip D. Levy

Life after a point-of-care ultrasound course: setting up the right conditions!

Point-of-care Ultrasound (POCUS) is becoming an important diagnostic tool for internal medicine and ultrasound educational programs are being developed. An ultrasound course is often included in such a curricu...

Authors: T. J. Olgers, N. Azizi, H. R. Bouma and J. C. ter Maaten

Development of supraspinatus imaging guidance for primary care physicians with a focus on patient selection

Primary care physicians frequently encounter patients with supraspinatus pathology and face a difficult task of managing this subset of patients using limited imaging resources. The purpose of this study was t...

Authors: Anurag Dalai, Leanne Langford, Cole Beavis and Haron Obaid

Vertical displacement of pleura: a new method for bronchospasm evaluation?

Lung ultrasonography has been increasingly recognized has a valuable diagnostic tool. In adult patients with asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and wheezing, LUS usually presents as an A/nude profile...

Authors: Sara Raquel Martins and Ramon Nogué

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in cardiac arrest: results of a hands-on training for a simplified TEE protocol

Integration of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) with Focused Cardiac Ultrasound (FoCUS) can impact decision-making, assist in the diagnosis of reversible etiologies and help guiding resuscitation of pati...

Authors: Peiman Nazerian, Giuliano De Stefano, Giovanni Albano, Vera Gaspari, Sergio Bevilacqua, Valter Campagnolo, Pierluigi Stefàno and Stefano Grifoni

The “pandemic” increase in lung ultrasound use in response to Covid-19: can we complement computed tomography findings? A narrative review

Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has rapidly spread to a global pandemic in March 2020. This e...

Authors: Luigi Vetrugno, Marco Baciarello, Elena Bignami, Andrea Bonetti, Francesco Saturno, Daniele Orso, Rossano Girometti, Lorenzo Cereser and Tiziana Bove

Comparison of ultrasonographic versus infrared pupillary assessment

To evaluate the correlation between ultrasonographic and infrared pupillary assessments in critically ill patients, including neurocritically ill patients.

Authors: Christian D. Yic, Gabriel Prada, Sergio I. Paz, Leandro Moraes, Julio C. Pontet, Marcos E. Lasso and Alberto Biestro

Novel role of focused airway ultrasound in early airway assessment of suspected laryngeal trauma

Upper airway injury secondary to blunt neck trauma can lead to upper airway obstruction and potentially cause a life-threatening condition. The most important aspect in the care of laryngeal trauma is to estab...

Authors: Osman Adi, Kok Meng Sum, Azma Haryaty Ahmad, Mahathar Abd. Wahab, Luca Neri and Nova Panebianco

Value of point-of-care ultrasonography compared with computed tomography scan in detecting potential life-threatening conditions in blunt chest trauma patients

Ultrasonography is a suitable modality that can potentially improve patient care, saving time and lives.

Authors: Amirhosein Jahanshir, Shida Mohajer Moghari, Ayat Ahmadi, Pejman Z. Moghadam and Maryam Bahreini

POCUS and POCDUS: essential tools for the evaluation and management of carotid artery pseudoaneurysms after a gunshot wound

Evaluation of asymptomatic penetrating vascular injuries can be done with Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) and Point-of-care Doppler ultrasound (POCDUS).

Authors: Lisandro Montorfano, Marianna Sarkissyan, Matthew Wolfers, Federico Rodríguez, Fernando Pla and Miguel Montorfano

Feasibility of postural lung recruitment maneuver in children: a randomized, controlled study

Pulmonary atelectasis in anesthetized children is easily reverted by lung recruitment maneuvers. However, the high airways pressure reached during the maneuver could negatively affect hemodynamics. The aim of ...

Authors: Cecilia M. Acosta, Giovanni Volpicelli, Nadia Rudzik, Nicolás Venturin, Sebastián Gerez, Lila Ricci, Marcela Natal and Gerardo Tusman

Offshore telementored ultrasound: a quality assessment study

Telementored ultrasound (US) connects experts to novices through various types of communication and network technologies with the overall aim to bridge the medical imaging gap between patients’ diagnostic need...

Authors: Victoria Vatsvåg, Kjetil Todnem, Torvind Næsheim, John Cathcart, Daniel Kerr and Nils Petter Oveland

Stab wound of the superficial femoral artery early diagnosed by point-of-care Doppler ultrasound

Traumatic vascular injury of the limbs has the potential to cause substantial patient morbidity and mortality, and therefore, early recognition and treatment are crucial to improve outcomes. While patients wit...

Authors: Pablo Blanco and María Fernanda Menéndez

Point-of-care ultrasound for the detection of hydronephrosis in emergency department patients with suspected renal colic

Point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) by emergency physicians for renal colic has been proposed as an alternative to computed tomography (CT) to avoid ionizing radiation exposure and shorten emergency department le...

Authors: Stephanie Sibley, Nathan Roth, Charles Scott, Louise Rang, Heather White, Marco L. A. Sivilotti and Eric Bruder

Role of point-of-care ultrasound during the COVID-19 pandemic: our recommendations in the management of dialytic patients

COVID-19 is a viral disease due to the infection of the novel Corona virus SARS-CoV-2, that has rapidly spread in many countries until the World Health Organization declared the pandemic from March 11, 2020. E...

Authors: Ana Luisa Silveira Vieira, José Muniz Pazeli Júnior and Marcus Gomes Bastos

Point-of-care ultrasound to complete physical exam and to reach the diagnosis in a young man with syncope

Cardiac syncope can result from an atrial myxoma due to outflow obstruction. Myxoma is the most common primary cardiac tumor that may cause sudden death and the nonspecific symptoms may make early diagnosis di...

Authors: Fatemeh Rasooli, Mehrnoosh Aligholi Zahraie and Maryam Bahreini

Feasibility of renal resistive index measurements performed by an intermediate and novice sonographer in a volunteer population

The Doppler-derived renal resistive index (RRI) is emerging as a promising bedside tool for assessing renal perfusion and risk of developing acute kidney injury in critically ill patients. It is not known what...

Authors: Mårten Renberg, Naima Kilhamn, Kent Lund, Daniel Hertzberg, Claire Rimes-Stigare and Max Bell

Combined ultrasound–CT approach to monitor acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease

Lung ultrasound is a bedside non-irradiating tool for assessment and monitoring of lung diseases. A lung ultrasound score based on visualized artefacts allows reliable quantification of lung aeration, and is u...

Authors: Silvia Mongodi, Andrea Colombo, Anita Orlando, Lorenzo Cavagna, Bélaid Bouhemad, Giorgio Antonio Iotti and Francesco Mojoli

Ultrasound measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter pre- and post-lumbar puncture

To test the hypothesis that optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) correlates with real-time changes in intracranial pressure, we performed ultrasound measurements of the ONSD in ambulatory patients undergoing ele...

Authors: Christopher K. Schott, Mohammad I. Hirzallah, Rock Heyman, Daniel N. Lesky, Emily B. Brant and Clifton W. Callaway

Real-time ultrasound-guided thoracentesis in the intensive care unit: prevalence of mechanical complications

The use of thoracic ultrasound during thoracentesis reduces complications. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of complications for real-time ultrasound-guided thoracentesis performed by inte...

Authors: David Rene Rodriguez Lima, Andrés Felipe Yepes, Claudia Inés Birchenall Jiménez, Mario Andrés Mercado Díaz and Darío Isaías Pinilla Rojas

Sonographic exploration for fascial exploration (SEFE) in necrotizing fasciitis: a case report

Necrotizing skin and soft tissue infections are life-threatening conditions. Reliance on gas in tissue planes leads to worsened outcomes in patients with non-gas forming types of necrotizing fasciitis (NF).

Authors: Jessica Fozard, Krystle Shafer and Thompson Kehrl

Ultrasound-guided insertion of intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation in intensive care: description of the technique

Intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation (IAoBC) is a mechanical circulatory support device that has been used for more than 50 years, mainly for cardiogenic shock. Although its effect on mortality is controversi...

Authors: David Rene Rodriguez Lima, Ever Julián Duran, Ever Leonardo Rojas Díaz, Darío Isaías Pinilla Rojas, Mario Andrés Mercado Díaz and Yury Forlán Bustos Martínez

Sonographic signs and patterns of COVID-19 pneumonia

The pandemic of COVID-19 is seriously challenging the medical organization in many parts of the world. This novel corona virus SARS-CoV-2 has a specific tropism for the low respiratory airways, but causes seve...

Authors: Giovanni Volpicelli and Luna Gargani

Rationale for using the velocity–time integral and the minute distance for assessing the stroke volume and cardiac output in point-of-care settings

Stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO) are basic hemodynamic parameters which aid in targeting organ perfusion and oxygen delivery in critically ill patients with hemodynamic instability. While there are s...

Authors: Pablo Blanco

The effectiveness of a longitudinal ultrasound curriculum for general pediatricians working in a Puerto Rican emergency department: a pilot study

The Hospital Pediatrico Universitario (HOPU) is the principal institution in Puerto Rico offering medical services to the children of the island and the Caribbean. There is limited use of point-of-care ultraso...

Authors: Veronica Sepulveda-Ortiz, Fred Warkentine, Rebecca Starr-Seal and Anna Rominger

Barriers to learning and using point-of-care ultrasound: a survey of practicing internists in six North American institutions

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly used in internal medicine, but a lack of trained faculty continues to limit the spread of POCUS education. Using a framework based on organizational change theo...

Authors: Jonathan Wong, Steven Montague, Paul Wallace, Kay Negishi, Andrew Liteplo, Jennifer Ringrose, Renee Dversdal, Brian Buchanan, Janeve Desy and Irene W. Y. Ma

Tablet vs. station-based laptop ultrasound devices increases internal medicine resident point-of-care ultrasound performance: a prospective cohort study

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is becoming an important part of internal medicine (IM) residency training. Achieving competency requires performing a large volume of clinical exams which can be difficult wit...

Authors: Matt Glogoza, Jonathan Urbach, Terry K. Rosborough, Susan Olet, Catherine A. St. Hill, Claire S. Smith and David M. Tierney

Quantifying systemic congestion with Point-Of-Care ultrasound: development of the venous excess ultrasound grading system

Organ congestion is a mediator of adverse outcomes in critically ill patients. Point-Of-Care ultrasound (POCUS) is widely available and could enable clinicians to detect signs of venous congestion at the bedsi...

Authors: William Beaubien-Souligny, Philippe Rola, Korbin Haycock, Josée Bouchard, Yoan Lamarche, Rory Spiegel and André Y. Denault

A case of intrathyroid parathyroid tumor that was difficult to diagnose by ultrasonography

With advances in diagnostic imaging such as ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), and ^99mTc-MIBI-sestamibi (MIBI) scintigraphy, localized diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) has become possible with...

Authors: Nobuyuki Takemoto, Ai Koyanagi, Masanori Yasuda, Yuya Yamamoto and Hiroshi Yamamoto

Unanticipated critical findings on echocardiography in septic patients

Echocardiography is increasingly performed among septic patients as a routine part of evaluation and management in the intensive care unit (ICU). The rate of unanticipated critical findings (e.g., severe left ...

Authors: Sarah J. Beesley, Ezekiel Egan, Michael J. Lanspa, Emily L. Wilson, Elliotte L. Hirshberg, Colin K. Grissom, Rebecca Burk and Samuel M. Brown

Point-of-care ultrasound in resource-limited settings: the PURLS fellowship

The role of point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) is rapidly expanding in both resource-rich and resource-limited settings (RLS). One limitation to this rapid expansion has been the lack of educators adequatel...

Authors: Samuel L. Burleson, David C. Pigott, John P. Gullett, Christopher Greene, Courtney B. Gibson, Scott Irvine and Daniel Kaminstein

Mechanical ventilation weaning issues can be counted on the fingers of just one hand: part 2

Assessing heart and diaphragm function constitutes only one of the steps to consider along the weaning path. In this second part of the review, we will deal with the more systematic evaluation of the pulmonary...

Authors: Luigi Vetrugno, Alessandro Brussa, Giovanni Maria Guadagnin, Daniele Orso, Francesco De Lorenzo, Gianmaria Cammarota, Erminio Santangelo and Tiziana Bove

Mechanical ventilation weaning issues can be counted on the fingers of just one hand: part 1

Although mechanical ventilation may be a patient’s vital ally during acute illness, it can quickly transform into an enemy during chronic conditions. The weaning process is the fundamental phase that enables t...

Authors: Luigi Vetrugno, Giovanni Maria Guadagnin, Alessandro Brussa, Daniele Orso, Eugenio Garofalo, Andrea Bruni, Federico Longhini and Tiziana Bove

Thoracic ultrasound evaluation and B-type natriuretic peptide value in elective cesarean section under spinal anesthesia

Pregnancy-induced changes in cardiovascular status make women more susceptible to pulmonary edema. During cesarean section, to counterbalance the effect of hypotension caused by spinal anesthesia, anesthesiolo...

Authors: Luigi Vetrugno, Teresa Dogareschi, Rossella Sassanelli, Daniele Orso, Ludmilla Seremet, Lisa Mattuzzi, Sara Scapol, Alessandra Spasiano, Angelo Cagnacci and Tiziana Bove

Billing I-AIM: a novel framework for ultrasound billing

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has an ever-growing footprint in medicine. With this growth POCUS billing and reimbursement has become an area gaining quite a bit of attention as a means of funding and sustai...

Authors: Daralee Hughes, Michelle M. Corrado, Irene Mynatt, Michael Prats, Nelson A. Royall, Creagh Boulger and David P. Bahner

Relationship of spontaneous microembolic signals to risk stratification, recurrence, severity, and mortality of ischemic stroke: a prospective study

The presence of microembolic signals (MES) during the acute phase of stroke is poorly understood, and its role and clinical application in relation to risk stratification and prognosis in patients remain uncer...

Authors: Rodrigo Bazan, Gustavo José Luvizutto, Gabriel Pereira Braga, Silméia Garcia Zanati Bazan, João Carlos Hueb, Carlos Clayton Macedo de Freitas, Pedro Tadao Hamamoto Filho, Gabriel Pinheiro Módolo, André Petean Trindade, Marcone Lima Sobreira, Hélio Rubens de Carvalho Nunes, João Pereira Leite and Octávio Marques Pontes-Neto

Cardiac point-of-care ultrasound reveals unexpected, life-threatening findings in two children

The diagnosis of pericardial effusion with cardiac tamponade can at times be elusive in pediatric patients since it is relatively uncommon. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can readily be performed at the beds...

Authors: Stephanie J. Doniger and Nicholas Ng

Evaluation of short training session for venous limited compression ultrasonography: prospective multicenter study

Venous limited compression ultrasonography (VLCU) is recommended in case of suspicion of deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Current training pathways are rather long and include experiential phase. This aim of this...

Authors: François Javaudin, Julie Seon, Quentin Le Bastard, Astrid Cabiot, Philippe Pes, Idriss Arnaudet, Milena Allain and Philippe Le Conte

The role of point-of-care ultrasound in the diagnosis and management of necrotizing soft tissue infections

Necrotizing soft tissue infections are associated with high morbidity and mortality, even when the correct treatment is initiated. The diagnosis of these conditions is hard and the most sensitive methods are t...

Authors: Luís Magalhães, Sara Raquel Pereira Martins and Ramon Nogué

How POCUS picks up a rare mimickers of acute appendicitis in the emergency department

Appendicitis is the most common surgical abdominal emergency. Punctual diagnosis and rapid operative treatment of acute appendicitis are critically important, as it reduces the risk of complications, associate...

Authors: Shihab Al Sheikh, Mariam Al Ali, Dhanya Sochel Kiran and Mohsen Al Tabatabai

Feasibility of cardiac output measurements in critically ill patients by medical students

Critical care ultrasonography (CCUS) is increasingly applied also in the intensive care unit (ICU) and performed by non-experts, including even medical students. There is limited data on the training efforts n...

Authors: Geert Koster, Thomas Kaufmann, Bart Hiemstra, Renske Wiersema, Madelon E. Vos, Devon Dijkhuizen, Adrian Wong, Thomas W. L. Scheeren, Yoran M. Hummel, Frederik Keus and Iwan C. C. van der Horst

Bedside ultrasound in cardiac standstill: a clinical review

Patients with cardiac arrest present as a relatively frequent occurrence in the Emergency Department. Despite the advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of cardiac arrest, managing the condition ...

Authors: Laila Hussein, Mohammad Anzal Rehman, Ruhina Sajid, Firas Annajjar and Tarik Al-Janabi

Cardiac ultrasound in resource-limited settings (CURLS): towards a wider use of basic echo applications in Africa

Point-of-care ultrasound is increasingly being used as a diagnostic tool in resource-limited settings. The majority of existing ultrasound protocols have been developed and implemented in high-resource setting...

Authors: Michaëla A. M. Huson, Dan Kaminstein, Daniel Kahn, Sabine Belard, Prakash Ganesh, Vanessa Kandoole-Kabwere, Claudia Wallrauch, Sam Phiri, Benno Kreuels and Tom Heller