Clinical application of rapid B-line score with lung ultrasonography in differentiating between pulmonary infection and pulmonary infection with acute left ventricular heart failure

摘要

Background: We have found that there are usually 2 causes of acute dyspnea in our emergency department: (1) pulmonary infection only and (2) pulmonary infection in the setting of acute left ventricular heart failure (LVHF). These conditions are sometimes difficult to differentiate. Lung ultrasonography (LUS) is easily performed at the bedside and provides accurate information for diagnosis. In this study, we propose a simple B-line score to allow rapid differential diagnosis between these 2 lung conditions.