Objective: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a non-radiation, easy diagnostic tool for lung diseases. This study aims to explore the diagnostic value of LUS for pregnant women with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).
Methods: Forty-five women with a pregnancy duration of over one month, admitted to the emergency department with fever, cough, and sputum between January 1 and December 31, 2014 were recruited. Chest X-ray, LUS, peripheral blood cell count, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein examination were conducted within 24 hours after admission. The specificity, sensitivity, false positive rate, false negative rate, positive prediction ratio, negative prediction ratio, and accuracy were calculated. LUS and chest X-ray were compared by t-test. P< 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Results: The white blood cell count and the content of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in the pneumonia group were significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.01). There were 21 (77.8%), 25 (92.6%), 25 (92.6%), and 5 (18.5%) patients in the pneumonia group with pulmonary consolidation, increased B-line, A-line disappearance, and pulmonary pulse by LUS, respectively. There were one (5.6%) and two (11.1%) patients with increased B-line and A-line disappearance, respectively in the control group. Difference was significant (P<0.01). CAP was diagnosed with sensitivity of 92.6%, specificity of 89.5%, false positive rate of 10.5%, false negative rate of 3.8%, positive prediction ratio of 82.6%, negative prediction ratio of 94.4%, accuracy of 93.3% and t- test value of 0.862, indicating good consistency between LUS and chest X-ray.
Conclusions: Pregnant women with CAP were diagnosed by LUS and chest X-ray with good consistency. LUS should be further investigated since its advantages of no-radiation and repeatability, making it more suitable.
Keywords: LUS, CAP, Diagnosis, Pregnancy..