Infectious Pneumonia and Lung Ultrasound: A Review

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 12; no. 4; p. 1402
• Main Authors: Boccatonda, Andrea, Cocco, Giulio, D’Ardes, Damiano, Delli Pizzi, Andrea, Vidili, Gianpaolo, De Molo, Chiara, Vicari, Susanna, Serra, Carla, Cipollone, Francesco, Schiavone, Cosima, Guagnano, Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10.02.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Acoustics; Bacterial pneumonia; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Clinical medicine; Diagnosis; Diagnosis, Differential; Diagnosis, Ultrasonic; Edema; Emergency medical care; Intensive care; Lung diseases; Methods; Patients; Physiology; Pneumonia; Pulmonary fibrosis; Review; Rib cage; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Signs; Ultrasonic imaging; Italy; COVID-19; lung; heart failure; pneumonia; cancer; consolidation; ultrasound
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm12041402

The application of thoracic ultrasound examination has not long been developed because ultrasound’s interaction with the lung does not generate an anatomical image but an artifactual one. Subsequently, the evaluation of pulmonary artifacts and their correlation to specific diseases allowed the development of ultrasound semantics. Currently, pneumonia still represents one of the main causes of hospitalization and mortality. Several studies in the literature have demonstrated the ultrasound features of pneumonia. Although ultrasound cannot be considered the diagnostic gold standard for the study of all lung diseases, it has experienced an extraordinary development and growth of interest due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This review aims to provide essential information on the application of lung ultrasound to the study of infectious pneumonia and to discuss the differential diagnosis.