Value of thoracic ultrasound including focused cardiac ultrasound in daily practice of outpatient chest clinic

Moaz Atef; Houssam Eldin  Hassanin; Ahmed M Ewis; Ahmed A Hassan; Ashraf Moursi; Ahmed S Sedeek; Ibrahim H Yousef; Bassam Abdellatif; Ahmed Attia; Magdy Shohdy; Abdelaziz Saeed; Zeinab R Adawy; Sawsan B Elsawy; Ahmed E Kabil

doi:10.5826/mrm.2025.1033

Value of thoracic ultrasound including focused cardiac ultrasound in daily practice of outpatient chest clinic

Authors

Moaz Atef Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Houssam Eldin Hassanin Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Ahmed M Ewis Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Ahmed A Hassan Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Ashraf Moursi Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Ahmed S Sedeek Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Ibrahim H Yousef Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Bassam Abdellatif Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Ahmed Attia Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Magdy Shohdy Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine ,Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Abdelaziz Saeed Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Assuit, Egypt
Zeinab R Adawy Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine for girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Sawsan B Elsawy Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine for girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Ahmed E Kabil Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1910-9674

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5826/mrm.2025.1033

Keywords:

Acute bronchitis , Chest ultrasound, FOcus

Abstract

Background: Chest examination alone may be insufficient to declare cardiorespiratory diseases specially in its early stages and/or silent forms, also it is impractical for the CXR and cardiac consultation to be requested for every patient in the outpatient clinic, therefore involving the chest US and FoCUS (Focused Cardiac Ultra Sound) examination in the bedside practice of outpatient chest clinic may influence the clinical diagnosis and management plan.
Objective: To determine how the bedside thoracic US including FoCUS can alter the clinical diagnosis in patients who are clinically diagnosed as acute bronchitis in the outpatient chest clinic.
Subjects and methods: This study was conducted at Chest outpatient clinic, Al-Azhar University in the period between January 2024 to March 2025. 300 patients diagnosed clinically as acute bronchitis were evaluated by bedside chest ultrasound and FoCUS.
Results: A prospective cross sectional study including 300 patients clinically diagnosed as acute bronchitis and evaluated by the bedside chest US including FoCUS which was additive and/or changing in clinical diagnosis in 31 (10.3%) of the studied patients, the sonographic evidence of pneumonia was present in 17 (5.7%) patients, the interstitial lung disease ILD was suggested in 5 (1.7%) patients, the clinic-sonographic diagnosis of heart failure was present in 7 (2.3%), the findings of mitral stenosis was present in 2 (0.7%).
Conclusion: The practice of bedside chest US including FoCUS should not be restricted to the emergency rooms and ICUs but also should be extended to the outpatient clinic as it can diagnose unexpected clinical problems, guide to the next investigational step, and shorten the time to the clinical diagnosis and recovery.

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