Related Experiment Videos
Comparison of A-mode ultrasound and computed tomography: detection of secretion in maxillary and frontal sinuses in
F Lucchin1, N Minicuci, M A Ravasi
1Servizio di Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale Civile di Rovigo, Italy.
Objective:
To study the accuracy of A-mode ultrasonography (A-MU) in detecting secretion in maxillary and frontal sinuses in critically ill, intubated patients undergoing mechanical ventilation.
Design:
Open study in mechanically ventilated, comatose patients.
Setting:
Medical-surgical intensive care unit in the General Hospital of Rovigo.
Patients:
50 consecutive, mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients. All patients were in a coma and needed cerebral computed tomography (CT) for a diagnosis.
Measurements And Results:
The A-MU technique gave 100 images of maxillary and frontal sinuses. The images were read blindly and classified into five categories: definitely normal, definitely abnormal, probably normal, questionable, and probably abnormal. CT findings were considered to be the "gold standard". The specificity of echo images varied from 72 to 98% and the sensitivity from 63 to 86% for maxillary sinuses. For frontal sinuses, the specificity varied from 96 to 99% and the sensitivity from 14 to 57%. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was found to be 0.89 and 0.76 for maxillary and frontal sinuses, respectively.
Conclusions:
The A-MU technique is an accurate tool for detecting secretion in the maxillary sinuses in intubated patients. More investigations are necessary in order to evaluate its usefulness in the frontal sinuses.