Diagnostic value of lung ultrasound for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome: a meta-analysis and systematic review

Abstract

Aim: Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) is one of the most common and severe diseases in neonatal intensive care units worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests that lung ultrasound (LUS) may be a reliable diagnostic tool for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. The aim of study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of LUS for NRDS with a systematic review and meta-analysis. Material and methods: We searched for articles in EMBASE, PubMed and Cochrane Central from inception until 17 August 2019. The selected studies were diagnostic accuracy studies that reported the utility of LUS in the diagnosis of NRDS. Two researchers independently extracted data and assessed quality using the QUADAS-2 tool. Then, we created a bivariate mixed effects model to calculate the sensitivity and specificity of LUS in diagnosing NRDS. A summary receiver operator characteristic (SROC) curve was constructed to summarize the performance characteristics of LUS. Results: Nine studies involving 703 infants were included in the review. LUS had a pooled sensitivity of 0.99 (CI: 0.92-1.00) and a specificity of 0.95 (CI: 0.87-0.98). The areas under the curve for LUS was 0.99 (0.98-1.0). Meta-regression revealed that LUS had a significant diagnostic accuracy for NRDS. Conclusion: LUS is a promising method that is easily carried out, inexpensive, nonionizing and repeatable and can be performed at the bedside. Current evidence supports LUS as a useful imaging alternative for the diagnosis of NRDS.

Association of Lung Ultrasound Score with Mortality and Severity of COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis

“…The LUS can been performed for: Diagnosis and follow-up of pediatric lung infectious diseases (namely bronchiolitis and pneumonia) and lung complications (such as pneumothorax, pleural effusion, and lung abscess); Diagnosis of respiratory distress syndrome (Ma et al, 2020); Diagnosis and follow-up of pulmonary edema; Diagnosis of thoracic trauma, and early detection of signs of child abuse (Iovine et al, 2021); Diagnosis of pneumothorax (Fei et al, 2021); Assessing and predicting acute heart failure (Johannessen et al, 2021). The LUS has become part of the basic knowledge of physicians caring for critically ill patients in emergency and ICU (Mayo et al, 2019, Mojoli et al, 2019.…”

Lung Ultrasound for the Diagnosis and Management of Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Minireview

“…Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a simple, non-invasive, inexpensive, and reproducible examination. Current evidence supports LUS as a useful imaging alternative for the diagnosis of RDS, and it has a significant diagnostic accuracy for RDS ( 5 – 8 ). Compared with traditional CXR, LUS diagnoses some lung diseases also with higher accuracy and higher specificity ( 7 ).…”

Lung Ultrasound in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Does It Impact Clinical Care?

“…Copetti et al demonstrated that alveolar interstitial syndrome (white lung), in an abnormal pleural line without areas of a normal-appearing lung, had a 100% sensitivity and specificity for RDS [ 39 ]. A recent meta-analysis of neonatal LUS concluded that LUS has significant diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.99 when diagnosing RDS [ 40 ]. LUS can be reliably used to diagnose RDS in the neonate and may be able to predict need for intervention.…”