The correlation between transthoracic lung ultrasound score and HRCT features in patients with interstitial lung diseases v1

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 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. 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). We demonstrated a very good correlation between total LUS score (number of B-lines in ten predefined scanning sites) and HRCT simplified score and also a very good correlation between the positive chest areas (like second LUS score) and HRCT score. The results sustained the diagnosis value of LUSfor the assessment of ILD compared with HRCT. 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.