PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Delgado-Cidranes Ernesto
AU  - Tirado-Conde Gema
AU  - Fernandez-Vaquero Miguel Angel
AU  - Estrada-Blanco Zuramis
TI  - Pleural elastography. Evaluation of pulmonary lesions in the intensive care unit
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2015.OA497
DP  - 2015 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - OA497
VI  - 46
IP  - suppl 59
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/OA497.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/OA497.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2015 Sep 01; 46
AB  - Introduction: Conventional B mode pulmonary ultrasonography is limited by the presence of alveolar air. In determined circumstances pleural adhesion, pleuritis, thickening and small pleural effusions may be visualized with this method. However, real time elastography is currently being applied to better detect and visualize these small changes and establish a more precise diagnosis and assess the effectiveness of the treatments applied.Material and patients.: We included 23 patients admitted to the intensive care unit with pulmonary lesions. A B mode pleural ultrasonography was performed followed by ultrasound examination with elastography. We used high resolution Esaote Mylab Alpha ultrasound equipment with a 13 MHz linear transducer to measure the pleural space, assess the tissular doppler and establish the elasticity of the zone. In 16 patients we detected a pleural space greater than 2.5 mm. Nine pleural lesions were detected in patients with atelectasia, 6 in patients with pneumonia and 1 due to trauma. The right lung was the most affected and showed the greatest morbidity.Results: We detected and visualized 16 pleural lesions diagnosed by elastography which in B mode did not provide a pathological diagnosis. The size of the pleural lesion, the pleural space and the behavior of recovery were best correlated with computerized tomography when the ultrasonography included elastography.Conclusions: In contrast with conventional B mode pleural ultrasonography, elastography allows better visualization and more precise detection of pleural lesions. The elastographic "Rainbow sign" is pathognomonic of thickening and pleural weakness.