• Hong Li, Jian Chen, and Pingxiang Hu.
• Department of Ultrasound, the Fourth Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital), Shenzhen 518033, China.
• Med Clin (Barc). 2022 Dec 9; 159 (11): 509514509-514.

BackgroundTo evaluate the value of the pulmonary ultrasound for the diagnosis of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) in emergency departments (EDs).Materials And MethodsBetween January 2018 and December 2019, patients admitted to the ED of Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital for suspected AECOPD were prospectively included in this study. Pulmonary ultrasound was performed using a linear transducer. The pulmonary ultrasound findings were evaluated for further discrimination for patients with AECOPD. Then, the diagnostic performance of pulmonary ultrasound was estimated and calculated. The clinical characteristics between groups with and without pneumonia were compared.ResultsA total of 53 patients with AECOPD were included in the final analysis. For diagnosis of AECOPD due to pneumonia, ultrasound findings, such as consolidation, slightly rough pleural line, or irregular and interrupted pleural line had a sensitivity of 92.3% and a specificity of 86.7%. For diagnosis of AECOPD complicating pulmonary fibrosis, fringed pleural line had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 97.5%. In addition, patients with pleural effusion (n=19) or pneumothorax (n=1) were correctly identified and wavy or bulging pleural lines were common in patients with AECOPD (58.5%, 31/53).ConclusionUltrasound findings could offer further discrimination for AECOPD complications and other pathological conditions, such as pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis, pleural effusion, and pneumothorax in EDs.Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U.

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