Lung ultrasound vs chest radiography in the diagnosis of children pneumonia: Systematic evidence.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic value of lung ultrasound (LUS) in comparison to chest radiography (CXR) in children with pneumonia.

Methods

Computer-based retrieval was performed on PubMed and EMBASE. Quality was evaluated according to the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies-2, and Meta-Disc was adopted to perform meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed using Q and I statistics. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) as the primary outcomes were calculated for each index test.

Results

Twenty two studies with a total of 2470 patients met the inclusion criteria. Our results showed that the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and DOR for children with pneumonia diagnosed by LUS were 0.95 (95% CI: 0.94 to 0.96), 0.90 (95% CI: 0.87 to 0.92), and 137.49 (95% CI: 60.21 to 313.98), respectively. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and DOR for pediatric pneumonia diagnosed by CXR was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.90 to 0.93), 1.00 (95% CI: 0.99 to 1.00), and 369.66 (95% CI: 137.14 to 996.47), respectively. Four clinical signs, including pulmonary consolidation, positive air bronchogram, abnormal pleural line, and pleural effusion were most frequently observed using LUS in the screening of children with pneumonia.

Conclusions

The available evidence suggests that LUS is a reliable, valuable, and alternative method to CXR for the diagnosis of pediatric pneumonia.

SUBMITTER: Yan JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7738074 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature