The correlation between the transthoracic lung ultrasound score (LUS) and the severity of changes in HRCT in patients with interstitial lung diseases v2

Chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is considered the "gold" standard radiological method in interstitial lung disease(ILD) patients. The objectives of our study were to evaluate the correlation between the transthoracic lung ultrasound (LUS) score (total LUS score and positive chest areas score) and the severity of changes in HRCT simplified scores, in different interstitial disorders, between LUS and symptoms, LUS and pulmonary function impairment. We have evaluated 58 consecutively patients diagnosed with ILD and compared with a non-healthy control group(n=30). TotalLUS score was correlated with HRCT score(r=0.784,p<0.001) and positive chest areas (intercostal spaces with >3B-lines) were correlated with HRCT score (r=0.805,p<0.005). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) for total LUS score using 5 as a HRCT score cut-off was 0.86(p<0.001), respectively for positive chest areas with intercostal space with >3B-lines was 0.88(p<0.001). The sensitivity(Se) was 76.7%, the specificity(Sp) 92.9%.We found a negative good correlation between both ultrasound scores and DLCO, a good correlation with Borg test dyspnea post-effort and significant desaturation. The use of LUS in ILD patients can be a useful, cheap, accessible and free radiation exposure investigation and can play a complementary role in the diagnosis and monitoring of these patients.