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BACKGROUND:Lung ultrasound (US) is an available and inexpensive tool for the diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP); it which has no hazards of radiation and can be easily used.AIM:To evaluate the efficacy of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis and follow-up of CAP.PATIENTS AND METHODS:100 patients aged from 40 to 63 years with a mean age of 52.3 ± 10 years admitted to the Critical Care Department, Cairo University with pictures of CAP. Lung US was performed for all patients initially, then a plain chest X-ray (CXR) was performed. Another lung ultrasound was performed on the 10th day after admission.RESULTS:Initial chest X-ray was correlated with the initial chest ultrasound examination in CAP diagnosis (R-value = 0.629, P < 0.001). Cohen’s κ was run to determine if there is an agreement between the findings of the initial chest X-ray findings and those of the initial chest ultrasound in CAP diagnosis. A moderate agreement was found where κ = .567 (95% CI, 0.422 to 0.712) and P < 0.001. Upon initial examination, the CXR diagnosed CAP in 48.0% of patients, while lung US diagnosed the disease in 70% of patients. Moreover, lung US was more sensitive than CXR (P-value < 0.001). Compared to the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) chest (100%) which is the gold standard for CAP diagnosis, the accuracy of lung US was 95.0%, while the accuracy of CXR was 81.0%.CONCLUSION:This study proved the effectiveness of lung ultrasound in CAP diagnosis.

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BACKGROUND: The right ventricle (RV) has historically received less attention than its counterpart of the left side of the heart, yet there is a substantial body of evidence showing that RV size and function are perhaps equally important in predicting adverse outcomes in cardiovascular diseases. AIM: The aim of our work was to evaluate incidence and impact of right ventricular (RV) affection in patients with acute left ventricular myocardial infarction subjected to primary percutaneous coronary intervention (1ry PCI). METHODS: The study was conducted on 80 patients who had acute left ventricle ST elevated myocardial infarction (LV STEMI) and subjected to 1ry PCI. The study was done in Cairo University, critical care department. All patients were studied within 2 days after 1ry PCI, RV function was assessed by echocardiography through tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and speckle tracking echocardiography. We excluded patients with RV infarction, moderate to severe tricuspid regurgitation, pulmonary hypertension, dilated cardiomyopathy, atrial or ventricular septal defect, and patients who had cardiac dysrhythmias. RESULTS: Out of 80 patients (64 men and 16 women) included in the study, 38 patients (47.5%) had TAPSE <1.7 cm, and 48 patients (60%) had RV longitudinal strain less negative than −19%.There was a statistically significant relationship between RV affection and anterior STEMI, left anterior descending artery as an infarct-related artery, duration of intensive care unit stay, impairment of LV global and regional systolic function, in-hospital complications, and 1-year mortality. CONCLUSION: RV dysfunction is not uncommon in acute LV STEMI when using the definition of TAPSE <17 cm and RV longitudinal strain less negative than −19%.There was a significant relationship between RV dysfunction and poor outcome in patients with acute LV STEMI.

BACKGROUND: Positive pressure mechanical ventilation is a non-physiological intervention that saves lives but is not free of important side effects. It invariably results in different degrees of collapse of small airways. Recruitment maneuver (RM) aims to resolve lung collapse by a brief and controlled increment in airway pressure while positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) afterward keeps the lungs open. Therefore, ideally RM and PEEP selection must be individualized and this can only be done when guided by specific monitoring tools since lung’s opening and closing pressures vary among patients with different lung conditions. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore the clinical value of ultrasonic monitoring in the assessment of pulmonary recruitment and the best PEEP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on 120 patients, 30 were excluded as in whom lung collapse cannot be confirmed then the rest were 90 patients from whom another 25 patients excluded as they were hemodynamically unstable the rest 65 patients were divided into two groups: Group A: Included 50 mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS, underwent lung recruitment using lung ultrasound and Group B: Included 15 mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS, underwent lung recruitment using oxygenation index. This prospective study was held at many critical care departments around Egypt. RESULTS: We noticed that lung recruitment in both groups significantly increased Pao2/Fio2 ratio immediately after recruitment compared with basal state and also significantly increase dynamic compliance compared with basal state. The increase in PF ratio immediately was significantly more in ultrasound group than in oxygenation group. Furthermore, we noticed that that P/F ratio 12 h after recruitment decreased compared with P/F ratio immediately after recruitment but significantly increased compared with basal state before recruitment and also we found that the increase in P/F ratio 12 h after recruitment was more significantly in lung ultrasound group than in oxygenation group. Furthermore, we noticed that lung recruitment (both lung ultrasound and oxygenation group) significantly increase RV function using TAPSE compared with basal state. Both opening pressure and optimal PEEP were significantly higher in lung ultrasound group than in oxygenation group. In our study, opening pressure was 37.28 ± 1.25 in lung ultrasound group and was 36.67±0.98 in oxygenation group and optimal PEEP was 14.64 ± 1.08 in lung ultrasound group and was 13.13 ± 0.74 in oxygenation group. CONCLUSION: Lung US is an effective mean of evaluating and guiding alveolar recruitment in ARDS. Compared with the maximal oxygenation–guided method, the protocol for reaeration in US-guided lung recruitment achieved a higher opening pressure, resulted in greater improvements in lung aeration, and substantially reduced lung heterogeneity in ARDS.