Lung ultrasound: its role in neonatology and pediatrics.

BACKGROUND: Lung ultrasound (LUS) has become more and more popular in the first decade of the 21(st) century, both in neonatal and in pediatric age groups. Several papers addressed the usefulness of this procedure mainly because of its possibility to be utilised at the bedside, without risk of irradiation along with simple and immediate interpretations of the images.

AIMS: The purpose of this paper is to update the knowledge on LUS related to the most common neonatal respiratory diseases and some pediatric acute lung diseases.

STUDY DESIGN: We describe the technique of LUS execution, the normal LUS appearance and the LUS findings in the most common neonatal and pediatric acute diseases.

SUBJECTS: LUS findings related to neonates of different gestational age as well as of pediatric patients from infancy to childhood are shown.

OUTCOME MEASURES: Issues on the evolution and effect of treatment related to LUS findings of neonatal and pediatric respiratory diseases are discussed.

RESULTS: LUS depicted peculiar and reproducible patterns in all the lung diseases described.

CONCLUSIONS: The use of LUS in the clinical field seems to be a reasonable and easy-to-use practice that can be considered an extension of the clinical exam. As a consequence of this feature, LUS, to fully express its potential, must be performed by the clinician in charge of the patient.