Ultrasound Journal最新文献

{"title":"Point-of-Care Ultrasound training in undergraduate education in the European Union: current situation and perspectives.","authors":"Florence Dupriez, Audrey Hall, Toumane Diop, Alix Collard, Bastian Rodrigues de Castro, Françoise Smets, Andrea Penaloza, Dominique Vanpee","doi":"10.1186/s13089-024-00361-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-024-00361-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Given the widespread use of Point-of-Care UltraSound (PoCUS) in clinical practice, with ultrasound machines becoming more portable and affordable, recommendations and position statements from ultrasound societies now promote teaching PoCUS in the undergraduate curriculum. Nevertheless, surveys about PoCUS teaching in European medical schools are lacking. This survey aims to overview the current and future undergraduate PoCUS courses in the European Union (EU).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A questionnaire was sent to medical schools in 26 of the 27 countries of the EU; Luxembourg is the only country without a medical school. The survey was completed by the dean or a member of the medical school with knowledge of the medical curriculum. Of the 58 medical schools from 19 countries that responded to the survey, 18 (31.0%) from 13 (68.4%) EU countries reported the existence of an undergraduate PoCUS curriculum and a further 16 (27.6%) from 12 (41.4%) EU countries intended to offer it in the future. No significant difference was observed between the current and future PoCUS curricula regarding its content and purpose. Less than 40 h of theoretical teaching is provided in all the medical schools and less than 40 h of practical training is provided in 12 (75%) of the 16 medical schools which answered this specific question. Of the 40 (69%) surveyed medical schools that do not currently teach PoCUS, 20 (50%) intend to offer PoCUS courses in the future.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Although the lack of teaching hours in curricula suggests that most PoCUS courses are introductory in nature and that medical students are possibly not trained to become autonomous in clinical practice, evaluating the feasibility and impact of PoCUS teaching on clinical practice should be promoted. The medical schools that intend to develop this curriculum should be encouraged to implement validated tools to objectively assess their programs and students' performances.</p>","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10864236/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139724317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessment of quadriceps muscle mass by ultrasound in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery.","authors":"Nestor David Caicedo Buitrago, Diana Trejos Gallego, Maria Cristina Florián Pérez, Carlos Andrés Quintero Cardona, Cristian Chaparro Botero","doi":"10.1186/s13089-023-00348-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-023-00348-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Patients undergoing cardiac surgery are exposed to many factors that activate catabolic and inflammatory pathways, which affect skeletal muscle and are, therefore, related to unfavorable hospital outcomes. Given the limited information on the behavior of muscle mass in critically ill patients, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact on quantitative and qualitative measurements of quadriceps muscle mass using ultrasound after cardiac surgery. To accomplish this, a prospective, descriptive, and correlational study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital. Quadriceps muscle mass was evaluated via ultrasound in 31 adult patients in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery, with daily follow-up until postoperative day 7, as well as an assessment of associations with negative outcomes at 28 days.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A 16% reduction in the cross-sectional area of the rectus femoris was found (95% CI 4.2-3.5 cm²; p 0.002), as well as a 24% reduction in the pennation angle of the rectus femoris (95% CI 11.1-8.4 degrees; p: 0.025). However, changes in the thickness of the rectus femoris, vastus internus, vastus lateralis, the length of the fascicle of the vastus lateralis, the pennation angle of the vastus lateralis, the sarcopenia index, and the Hekmat score were not statistically significant. There was no significant association between quadriceps muscle mass measurements and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) length stay or 28-day mortality.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Patients in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery evaluated by ultrasound exhibit both quantitative and qualitative changes in quadriceps muscle mass. A significant reduction in muscle mass is observed but this is not associated with unfavorable outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10861409/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139724315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lung ultrasound and supine chest X-ray use in modern adult intensive care: mapping 30 years of advancement (1993-2023).","authors":"Luigi Vetrugno, Daniele Guerino Biasucci, Cristian Deana, Savino Spadaro, Fiorella Anna Lombardi, Federico Longhini, Luigi Pisani, Enrico Boero, Lorenzo Cereser, Gianmaria Cammarota, Salvatore Maurizio Maggiore","doi":"10.1186/s13089-023-00351-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-023-00351-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In critically ill patients with acute respiratory failure, thoracic images are essential for evaluating the nature, extent and progression of the disease, and for clinical management decisions. For this purpose, computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard. However, transporting patients to the radiology suite and exposure to ionized radiation limit its use. Furthermore, a CT scan is a static diagnostic exam for the thorax, not allowing, for example, appreciation of \"lung sliding\". Its use is also unsuitable when it is necessary to adapt or decide to modify mechanical ventilation parameters at the bedside in real-time. Therefore, chest X-ray and lung ultrasound are today's contenders for shared second place on the podium to acquire a thoracic image, with their specific strengths and limitations. Finally, electrical impedance tomography (EIT) could soon have a role, however, its assessment is outside the scope of this review. Thus, we aim to carry out the following points: (1) analyze the advancement in knowledge of lung ultrasound use and the related main protocols adopted in intensive care units (ICUs) over the latest 30 years, reporting the principal publications along the way, (2) discuss how and when lung ultrasound should be used in a modern ICU and (3) illustrate the possible future development of LUS.</p>","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10861418/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139724316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparing contamination rates of sterile-covered and uncovered transducers for ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous lines.","authors":"Yonathan Estrella, Nathan Panzlau, Kevin Vinokur, Samuel Ayala, Maya Lin, Theodore Gaeta, Lawrence Melniker, Gerardo Chiricolo, Nazey Gulec","doi":"10.1186/s13089-023-00347-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-023-00347-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Physicians frequently use point-of-care ultrasound for intravenous access and bloodwork in the ED. Recently, AIUM and ACEP released recommendations on ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous lines (USPIVs), but there are no agreed upon standardized policies. We sought to determine whether the use of sterile-covered transducers (SCT) decreases the rate of contamination when compared to uncovered transducers (UCT) after standard low-level disinfection (LLD).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This is a randomized control trial comparing contamination rates of US transducers between SCT and UCT after their use for USPIV by the vascular access team, also known as the \"PICC\" team, over a 3-month period. A sample of admitted patient with an USPIV order were included and randomized to SCT (experimental) or UCT (control) arms. Transducers were swabbed and inserted into the SystemSURE Plus Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) Luminometer to calculate Relative Light Units (RLU). We performed a cost analysis of requiring sterile covers for USPIVs.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The UCT and SCT arms contained 35 and 38 patients, respectively. The SCT group had a mean of 0.34 compared to the UCT group mean of 2.29. Each sterile cover costs $8.49, and over 3000 USPIVs are placed annually by the \"PICC\" team.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Contamination rates were similar among the UCT and SCT groups after LLD. 254 inpatient USPIVs are performed monthly, not including failed attempts or covers used in the ED where USPIV placement is an essential part of ED workflow. This study suggests that the use of SCT does not significantly affect transducer contamination rates. These findings question burdensome regulatory hospital policies that are not evidence-based.</p>","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10850037/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139698528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Change in economy of ultrasound probe motion among general medicine trainees.","authors":"Gerard Salame, Matthew Holden, Brian P Lucas, Albert Portillo","doi":"10.1186/s13089-023-00345-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-023-00345-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To observe change in economy of 9 ultrasound probe movement metrics among internal medicine trainees during a 5-day training course in cardiac point of care ultrasound (POCUS).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used a novel probe tracking device to record nine features of ultrasound probe movement, while trainees and experts optimized ultrasound clips on the same volunteer patients. These features included translational movements, gyroscopic movements (titling, rocking, and rotation), smoothness, total path length, and scanning time. We determined the adjusted difference between each trainee's movements and the mean value of the experts' movements for each patient. We then used a mixed effects model to trend average the adjusted differences between trainees and experts throughout the 5 days of the course.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Fifteen trainees were enrolled. Three echocardiographer technicians and the course director served as experts. Across 16 unique patients, 294 ultrasound clips were acquired. For all 9 movements, the adjusted difference between trainees and experts narrowed day-to-day (p value < 0.05), suggesting ongoing improvement during training. By the last day of the course, there were no statistically significant differences between trainees and experts in translational movement, gyroscopic movement, smoothness, or total path length; yet on average trainees took 28 s (95% CI [14.7-40.3] seconds) more to acquire a clip.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We detected improved ultrasound probe motion economy among internal medicine trainees during a 5-day training course in cardiac POCUS using an inexpensive probe tracking device. Objectively quantifying probe motion economy may help assess a trainee's level of proficiency in this skill and individualize their POCUS training.</p>","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10828286/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139576776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The role of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) imaging in clinical outcomes during cardiac arrest: a systematic review.","authors":"Hany A Zaki, Haris Iftikhar, Eman E Shaban, Mavia Najam, Baha Hamdi Alkahlout, Nabil Shallik, Wael Elnabawy, Kaleem Basharat, Aftab Mohammad Azad","doi":"10.1186/s13089-023-00346-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-023-00346-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Cardiac arrest in hospital and out-of-hospital settings is associated with high mortality rates. Therefore, a bedside test that can predict resuscitation outcomes of cardiac arrest patients is of great value. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has the potential to be used as an effective diagnostic and prognostic tool during cardiac arrest, particularly in observing the presence or absence of cardiac activity. However, it is highly susceptible to \"self-fulfilling prophecy\" and is associated with prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which negatively impacts the survival rates of cardiac arrest patients. As a result, the current systematic review was created to assess the role of POCUS in predicting the clinical outcomes associated with out-of-hospital and in-hospital cardiac arrests.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The search for scientific articles related to our study was done either through an electronic database search (i.e., PubMed, Medline, ScienceDirect, Embase, and Google Scholar) or manually going through the reference list of the relevant articles. A quality appraisal was also carried out with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool (QUADAS-2), and the prognostic test performance (sensitivity and sensitivity) was tabulated.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The search criteria yielded 3984 articles related to our topic, of which only 22 were eligible for inclusion. After reviewing the literature, we noticed a wide variation in the definition of cardiac activity, and the statistical heterogeneity was high; therefore, we could not carry out meta-analyses. The tabulated clinical outcomes based on initial cardiac rhythm and definitions of cardiac activity showed highly inconsistent results.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>POCUS has the potential to provide valuable information on the management of cardiac arrest patients; however, it should not be used as the sole predictor for the termination of resuscitation efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10808079/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139542942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advancement in pleura effusion diagnosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of point-of-care ultrasound versus radiographic thoracic imaging.","authors":"Hany A Zaki, Bilal Albaroudi, Eman E Shaban, Ahmed Shaban, Mohamed Elgassim, Nood Dhafi Almarri, Kaleem Basharat, Aftab Mohammad Azad","doi":"10.1186/s13089-023-00356-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-023-00356-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Pleural effusion is a fluid buildup in the pleural space that mostly result from congestive heart failure, bacterial pneumonia, malignancy, and pulmonary embolism. The diagnosis of this condition can be challenging as it presents symptoms that may overlap with other conditions; therefore, imaging diagnostic tools such as chest x-ray/radiograph (CXR), point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), and computed tomography (CT) have been employed to make an accurate diagnosis. Although POCUS has high diagnostic accuracy, it is yet to be considered a first-line diagnostic tool as most physicians use radiography. Therefore, the current meta-analysis was designed to compare POCUS to chest radiography.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>n extended search for studies related to our topic was done on five electronic databases, including PubMed, Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar. A quality assessment using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool (QUADAS-2) was performed on all eligible articles obtained from the databases. Moreover, the diagnostic accuracy of POCUS and CXR was performed using STATA 16 software.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our search yielded 1642 articles, of which only 18 were eligible for inclusion and analysis. The pooled analysis showed that POCUS had a higher diagnostic accuracy compared to CXR (94.54% (95% CI 91.74-97.34) vs. 67.68% (95% CI 58.29-77.08) and 97.88% (95% CI 95.77-99.99) vs. 85.30% (95% CI 80.06-90.54) sensitivity and specificity, respectively). A subgroup analysis based on the position of patients during examinations showed that POCUS carried out in supine and upright positions had higher specificity than other POCUS positions (99%). In comparison, lateral decubitus CXR had higher sensitivity (96%) and specificity (99%) than the other CXR positions. Further subgroup analyses demonstrated that CXR had higher specificity in studies that included more than 100 patients (92.74% (95% CI 85.41-100). Moreover, CXR tends to have a higher diagnostic accuracy when other CXR positions are used as reference tests (93.38% (95% CI 86.30-100) and 98.51% (95% CI 94.65-100) sensitivity and specificity, respectively).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>POCUS as an imaging modality has higher diagnostic accuracy than CXR in detecting pleural effusion. Moreover, the accuracy is still high even when performed by physicians with less POCUS training. Therefore, we suggest it is considered a first-line imaging tool for diagnosing pleural effusion at the patients' bedside.</p>","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10805747/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139521987","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Utility of ultrasound in managing acute medical conditions in space: a scoping review.","authors":"Parsa Asachi, Ghadi Ghanem, Jason Burton, Haig Aintablian, Alan Chiem","doi":"10.1186/s13089-023-00353-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-023-00353-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10784237/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139418247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Replacement of fluoroscopy by ultrasonography in the evaluation of hemidiaphragm function, an exploratory prospective study.","authors":"Søren Helbo Skaarup, Peter Juhl-Olsen, Anne Sofie Grundahl, Brian Bridal Løgstrup","doi":"10.1186/s13089-023-00355-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-023-00355-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Dysfunction of the diaphragm may ultimately lead to respiratory insufficiency and compromise patient outcome. Evaluation of diaphragm function is cumbersome. Fluoroscopy has been the gold standard to measure diaphragmatic excursion. Ultrasonography can visualize diaphragm excursion and holds many advantages such as no radiation exposure, increased portability and accessibility. However, correlation between fluoroscopy and ultrasonography has never been studied. We aimed to compare fluoroscopic and ultrasound measures of diaphragm excursion to determine if ultrasonography can replace fluoroscopy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We performed ultrasound and fluoroscopy simultaneously during sniff inspiration and at total inspiratory capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure and in healthy volunteers. Cranio-caudal excursion was measured by fluoroscopy and compared directly to M-mode excursion, B-mode excursion, area change, resting thickness, thickening fraction and contraction velocity measured by ultrasonography.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Forty-two participants were included. The Pearson correlation between M-mode and fluoroscopy excursion was 0.61. The slope was 0.9 (90%CI 0.76-1.04) in a regression analysis. Using the Bland-Altman method, the bias was - 0.39 cm (95% CI - 1.04-0.26), p = 0.24. The Pearson correlation between fluoroscopy and B-mode and area change ultrasonography was high; low for thickness and fraction. All correlations were lower during sniff inspiration compared with inspiratory capacity breathing.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Ultrasonography has an acceptable correlation and bias compared to fluoroscopy and can thus be used as the primary tool to evaluate diaphragm excursion.</p>","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10774234/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139378440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optic nerve sheath diameter measurement for the paediatric patient with an acute deterioration in consciousness.","authors":"Ahmed Ali, David J McCreary","doi":"10.1186/s13089-023-00341-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13089-023-00341-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ocular Point of Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) is emerging as a valuable utility within emergency medicine. Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) has been demonstrated to correlate closely with intracranial pressure (ICP) and an elevated measurement can detect raised ICP readily, where fundoscopy may not, owing to both technical challenges and insufficient clinical skills. A previously fit and well 10-year-old girl presented to the paediatric emergency department with worsening headache, fever and lethargy. On examination, her left pupil was large, and not reactive to light. Initially, her GCS was 15 but suddenly dropped to 8/15. Her blood tests showed raised inflammatory markers. A CT head was reported as possible pansinusitis and MRI of her brain was initially reported as showing evidence of meningeal irritation only. Due to her drop in GCS PoCUS of optic nerve sheath was conducted which showed evidence of increased ICP with increased optic nerve sheath diameter of 6.8mm. This led to a reassessment of the MRI imaging by the neurosurgical team who felt there was evidence of subdural empyema. The patient was transferred to the tertiary neurosurgical centre, where an emergency evacuation of subdural empyema was carried out. Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes were grown from pus samples. Early detection of raised ICP is of paramount importance in terms of being able to instigate neuroprotective measures and prevent adverse neurological outcomes. PoCUS is a readily available, non-irradiating, easily repeatable, well-tolerated and readily teachable ultrasound modality and a useful tool which should be employed in paediatric and adult emergency departments.</p>","PeriodicalId":36911,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10695894/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138483182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}