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Am J Perinatol 2019; 36(13): 1357-1361
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1676975
Original Article
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

A Lung Ultrasound Severity Score Predicts Chronic Lung Disease in Preterm Infants

Mohamed Abdelmawla
1   Department of Pediatrics, King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Deepak Louis
2   Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
,
Michael Narvey
2   Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
,
Yasser Elsayed
2   Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
Further Information

Publication History

14 May 2018

16 November 2018

Publication Date:
04 January 2019 (online)

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Abstract

Objective To test the hypothesis that a lung ultrasound severity score (LUSsc) can predict the development of chronic lung disease (CLD) in preterm neonates.

Study Design Preterm infants <30 weeks' gestational age were enrolled in this study. Lung ultrasound (LUS) was performed between 1 and 9 postnatal weeks. All ultrasound studies were done assessing three lung zones on each lung. Each zone was given a score between 0 and 3. A receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed to assess the ability of LUSsc to predict CLD.

Results We studied 27 infants at a median (interquartile range [IQR]) gestational age and birth weight of 26 weeks (25–29) and 780 g (530–1,045), respectively. Median (IQR) postnatal age at the time of LUS studies was 5 (2–8) weeks. Fourteen infants who developed CLD underwent 34 studies. Thirteen infants without CLD underwent 30 studies. Those who developed CLD had a higher LUSsc than those who did not (median [IQR] of scores: 9 [6–12] vs. 3 [1–4], p < 0.0001). An LUSsc cutoff of 6 has a sensitivity and specificity of 76 and 97% and positive and negative predictive values of 95 and 82%, respectively. Adding gestational age < 27 weeks improved sensitivity and specificity to 86 and 98% and positive and negative predictive values to 97 and 88%.

Conclusion LUSsc between 2 and 8 weeks can predict development of CLD in preterm neonates.

Keywords

lung ultrasound - preterm infants - chronic lung disease
 

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