Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29666966›Full record

ArticleCritical ultrasound journal2018

Point-of-care lung ultrasound for diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia: notes from the field.

Maria Teresa Giordani, Francesca Tamarozzi, Daniel Kaminstein, Enrico Brunetti, Tom Heller

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Critical ultrasound journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04246983 (Introducing Point-of-care Ultrasound at the Bedside for Diagnosing Opportunistic Diseases in Patients With HIV), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04246983 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2020, after this paper: background citation

Introducing Point-of-care Ultrasound at the Bedside for Diagnosing Opportunistic Diseases in Patients With HIV

TypeinterventionalSponsorErasmus Medical CenterRan2020 to 2022Enrolled34ConditionsHIV/AIDS, Opportunistic Infections, HIV RelatedArmsOpportunistic infection Ultrasound (OpUS) screening
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. An overview of the laboratory diagnosis ofJournal of clinical microbiology · 2025
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Maria Teresa GiordaniInfectious and Tropical Diseases Unit, San Bortolo Hospital, Via Rodolfi 37, 36100, Vicenza, Italy. giordanimt@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6674-3566
Francesca TamarozziCenter for Tropical Diseases, Sacro Cuore-Don Calabria Hospital, Negrar, Verona, Italy.
Daniel KaminsteinDepartment of Emergency Medicine and Hospitalist Service, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA.
Enrico BrunettiDivision of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University of Pavia, IRCCS S. Matteo Hospital Foundation, Pavia, Italy.
Tom HellerLighthouse Clinic, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThoracic ultrasound is helpful to evaluate lung pathology in patients with acute dyspnea. Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of point-of-care ultrasound in patients with extrapulmonary TB and HIV co-infection. This retrospective, open-label case-control study explores the role of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) in HIV-positive patients. In particular, it highlights the potential role of specific sonographic features that may be unique to this population.

methodsThe record of all HIV-positive patients admitted from 1.1.2013 to 31.6.2017 to the Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine of san Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy, with a discharge diagnosis of acute lung injury (ALI) and who received point-of-care ultrasound of the chest for clinical purposes was included in the analysis. The patients were scanned according with the evidence-based recommendation.

resultsOf 273 HIV-positive patients whose records were reviewed, 81 (29.6%) were diagnosed with ALI. Complete documentation was available for 24 patients, of which 14 (58.3%) had microbiologically confirmed PJP (PJP+) and 10 (41.7%) had other conditions (PJP-). B-lines, subpleural consolidations, and cystic changes were significantly more frequent in patients with PJP (14/14 vs. 6/10, p = 0.0198; 14/14 vs. 4/10, p = 0.0016; 8/14 vs. 0/10, p = 0.0019, respectively). In particular, B-lines and subpleural consolidations were present in all PJP+ patients in our cohort giving a sensitivity of 100%, but their specificity was low (45 and 60%, respectively). On the contrary, the presence of consolidations with cystic changes had a very high specificity for PJP (100%), but low sensitivity (57%). Pleural effusions and consolidations with linear air bronchograms were not observed in PJP+ patients.

conclusionsB-lines, subpleural consolidations, and cystic changes are suggestive of PJP. Lung consolidation with air bronchograms and pleural effusion should prompt suspicion of other etiologies. These findings have the potential to be useful in the daily management of HIV-positive patients in resource-limited settings where other diagnostic tools are rarely available.

Indexed as

AIDSHIVLungLung ultrasoundPneumocystis pneumoniaPneumoniaPOC ultrasound

Identifiers

PMID29666966
PMCPMC5904093

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Registered trials

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