Assessment of transthoracic sonography in patients with interstitial lung diseases

Abstract

Aim: This study was designed to recognize the sonographic features of interstitial lung diseases (ILD). Furthermore, the possible correlations of these features with the functional and radiological parameters of the disease were assessed. Patients and methods: Forty-two patients with ILD were included; each patient underwent spirometry, Multi Detector CT chest (MDCT) and transthoracic sonography (TS). Fifteen healthy volunteers were also studied as controls. Results: The sonographic features among ILD patients were B lines in 73.8%, abolished lung sliding in 23.8%, irregular and thickened pleura in 47.6%and 35.7% respectively and subpleural lesions in 38.1%.Increasing distance between the B lines was negatively correlated with both of Forced Vital Capacity % predicted, ground glass opacities and positively correlated with reticular opacities patterns on MDCT chest. Conclusion: TS can be used as an additional imaging method for assessment of ILD and as a marker to estimate the severity of disease.