Observational studyItalian journal of pediatrics2025
Can lung ultrasound replace chest computed tomography in pediatric patients with complicated community-acquired pneumonia?
Observational study in Italian journal of pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundComplicated community-acquired pneumonia (CCAP) in children can result in severe morbidities. While computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard for diagnosis, its radiation exposure has led to the increased use of lung ultrasound (LUS) as a safer radiation-free alternative. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of LUS in detecting complications in pediatric patients with CCAP and determine its value in their follow up as well as its value in determining patients liable for surgical intervention as pleural decortication comparing its efficacy with chest CT.
methodsThis is a prospective observational cohort study that was conducted on 56 pediatric patients with CCAP at our tertiary-level referral pediatric hospital. Patients underwent clinical evaluation, laboratory investigations, chest X-ray, CT, and LUS. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of LUS were compared with CT for detecting consolidations, pleural thickening, effusions, lung abscesses, and hydropneumothorax.
resultsCompared to CT chest, LUS showed high sensitivity (92.6% for the right lung and 94.1% for the left lung) and specificity (88% and 100%, respectively) in detecting pleural effusions and consolidations, with substantial agreement with CT (p < 0.001). However, it had lower sensitivity in detecting lung abscesses (33.3% for the right lung, 0% for the left lung) and hydropneumothorax. Pleural thickness measured by LUS was a predictor for surgical intervention (cut-off > 2.2 mm). Follow-up LUS indicated significant improvement in lung lesions after one month.
conclusionLUS is a reliable tool for detecting pleural effusions and consolidations in pediatric CCAP, reducing the need for CT in many cases. However, its limitations in identifying abscesses and hydropneumothorax highlight the need for combined diagnostic approaches.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.