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In preterm infants, the modified lung ultrasound (mLUS) score significantly correlates with short-term clinical outcomes, according to a study published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a severe pulmonary complication of prematurity. Although lung ultrasound (LUS) is a useful tool for assessing the severity of lung disease without radiation exposure, there is little data on the practicality of LUS in assessing the severity of BPD and evaluating short-term clinical outcomes. Thus, researchers sought to adapt the LUS score to evaluate BPD severity and assess the reliability of the mLUS score in evaluating short-term clinical outcomes in preterm infants (gestational age <34 weeks).
Lung ultrasonography was performed at 36 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA), and the diagnostic and predictive values of new mLUS scores based on 8 standard sections were compared with classic lung ultrasound (cLUS) scores. Out of a total of 128 infants enrolled in this study, 30 did not have BPD, 31 had mild BPD, 23 had moderate BPD, and 44 had severe BPD. The researchers found that the mLUS score was significantly correlated with short-term clinical outcomes and was superior to the cLUS score. The mLUS score also correlated well with moderate and severe BPD and severe BPD, which were superior to the cLUS score.
“These findings suggest that lung ultrasound can accurately and noninvasively assess the severity of BPD at 36 weeks of PMA and evaluate short-term clinical outcomes,” concluded the researchers. “In addition, these results suggest that the modified semi-quantitative lung ultrasound score can play an important and possibly crucial role in assessing the severity of BPD, which potentially meets requirements in management of BPD infants,” they added.
Reference
Sun YH, Du Y, Shen JR, et al. A modified lung ultrasound score to evaluate short-term clinical outcomes of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. BMC Pulm Med. 2022;22:95. doi:10.1186/s12890-022-01885-4
