Chest Ultrasound: A New, Easy, and Radiation-Free Tool to Detect Retrosternal Clot After Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

Lung ultrasound: a new basic, easy, multifunction imaging diagnostic tool in children undergoing pediatric cardiac surgery

“…Every area may be further divided into the upper and lower half. Thus for a complete LUS examination (3,4), six different quadrants for each hemithorax should be scanned (anterior superior, anterior inferior, lateral superior, lateral inferior, posterior superior, posterior inferior).Pulmonary complications are common in pediatric patients after cardiac surgery, and LUS may allow for fast diagnosis at patient's bed (5-8), and monitoring lung disease progression and/or the response to medical therapy (i.e., diuretics) and physiotherapy (5)(6)(7)(8). Despite this, the use of LUS in pediatric cardiac surgery remains very limited (6).…”

“…Pulmonary complications are common in pediatric patients after cardiac surgery, and LUS may allow for fast diagnosis at patient's bed (5-8), and monitoring lung disease progression and/or the response to medical therapy (i.e., diuretics) and physiotherapy (5)(6)(7)(8). Despite this, the use of LUS in pediatric cardiac surgery remains very limited (6).…”

“…In adults a normal LUS examination corresponds to a minimal presence of EVLW (i.e. <5% or <500 mL), while findings indicative for a severe congestion may indicate an overt pulmonary oedema (i.e., EVLW >90% or >2,000 mL) (5). In children there is not a standardized system to classify pulmonary congestion according to the percentage of B lines.…”

“…LUS may be employed for the diagnosis of many common lung complications occurring after cardiac surgery including atelectasis, effusion, lung congestion, pneumonia, pneumothorax and diaphragmatic motion anomalies (5)(6)(7)(8). In contrast to X-RAY, LUS may allow to differentiate among effusion and atelectasis that are very common sequelae of cardiac surgery which require different therapeutic approaches (5)(6)(7)(8)14). Our group (5) recently described a new potential application of chest ultrasound in the diagnosis of retrosternal clots after pediatric cardiac surgery, that are common cause of hemodynamic unbalance and often difficult to diagnosis with conventional echocardiography.…”

Use of linear and convex ultrasound transducers for evaluation of retrosternal area in patients after cardiac surgery

“…[2][3][4] The use of convex and linear transducers may also be extended to the evaluation of other thoracic structures.Linear transducers are helpful for detecting retrosternal thrombi that are difficult to visualize by conventional echocardiography. 4 We present examples of using these transducers for superior visualization of the retrosternal area in children after cardiac surgery.…”